An Insight into a Blockbuster Phytomedicine;Marrubium vulgareL. Herb. More of a Myth than a Reality?

Abstract

Aerial parts and the root of Marrubium vulgare L. (white horehound) have been traditionally used in Europe and in southern and eastern Mediterranean countries. During colonization, the plant was introduced in America to great levels of popularity because of the simplicity of its growing; it was especially popular in Mexico and Brazil, where it has been known as 'maromba', 'marroio' or 'marroio-branco'. Ethnopharmacological uses of M. vulgare include treating respiratory diseases such as acute or chronic bronchitis, colds and asthma. The plant is also used in cases where there is a lack of appetite or dyspepsia and for diagnosed type II diabetes. It has even been used for antihypertensive therapy. For decades, scientists have carried out extensive research trying to explain these and other pharmacologic actions. It is time to systematize and critically analyse the quality of results found to date. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Marrubium vulgare L. Leave Extract: Phytochemical Composition, Antioxidant and Wound Healing Properties

“…The plant kingdom is an inestimable source of phytochemicals useful for treating several pathological conditions. Among the plethora of plant-based medical extracts, throughout this work we showed the therapeutic potential of Marrubium vulgare , which is currently involved in numerous medical preparations, endowed with anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic and antiasthmatic activities, as well as in cosmetic applications [ 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 ]. With the aim to evaluate the wound healing potential/properties of the Marrubium vulgare leaves, we prepared a HA-LE adopting a MASE-based methodology.…”

“…This grey-leaved herbaceous perennial plant is native to Eurasia and northern Africa zones. It is traditionally employed against respiratory infections such as bronchitis, coughs and asthma as already mentioned in first text concerning medical knowledge in the Roman world: De Medicina [ 18 , 19 ]. Nevertheless, literature data show that other pharmacological activities can be ascribed to Horehound, including antihypertensive, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, hypoglycemic, vasodilator and antidiabetic properties [ 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 ].…”

Lamiaceae medicinales y aromáticas comercializadas en el Área Metropolitana de Buenos Aires, Argentina

“…Antiinflamatorio, analgésico, anti-edema, antiespasmódico, vasorrelajante, aperitivo, gastroprotector, anti-dispepsia, antioxidante, hepatoprotector, antidiabético, hipotensor, cardioprotector, antimicrobiano, antifúngico, neuroprotector, antiasmático, expectorante, anticatarral, demulcente [Rodríguez Villanueva & Martín Esteban, 2016;Cechinel Filho, 2018], anticáncer (Paunovic et al, 2016), antihelmíntico (Moussouni et al, 2018), hipolipidémico, hipocolesterolémico [Hurrell et al, , 2015bArenas et al, 2015;Puentes et al, 2018]. [Rita & Animesh, 2011;Hurrell et al, 2015b;Cerini Trevisan et al, 2017;Loolaie et al, 2017;Puentes et al, 2018].…”

Pharmacological Activities of Phytomedicines: A Challenge Horizon for Rational Knowledge

“…A great number of herbs have been analyzed under the approach described previously, and a compound or group of compounds have been proposed as the biologically active agents that play the key role in the pharmacological effect [12]. Sometimes, this approach has resulted in the ability to discover compounds with great selectivity for a chosen target [13], which can be as diverse as enzymes, receptors, antibodies, or signal cascades, but generally, herbal extracts are a mixture of bioactive or inactive compounds, and it has been suggested that the biological activity of herbal medicine results from the combination of different active components [14].…”

“…Marrubium vulgare L. has been selected to exemplify each of the periods represented. Example data obtained from Rodríguez Villanueva[12,28]. COX-2: cyclo-oxigenase-2; PG-E2: prostaglandin-E2; NOS: nitric oxide synthase; 6-ODA: 6-octadecynoic acid.…”