Ethnopharmacological in vitro studies on Austria's folk medicine—An unexplored lore in vitro anti-inflammatory activities of 71 Austrian traditional herbal drugs

Abstract

Ethnopharmacological relevanceIn Austria, like in most Western countries, knowledge about traditional medicinal plants is becoming scarce. Searching the literature concerning Austria's ethnomedicine reveals its scant scientific exploration.Aiming to substantiate the potential of medicinal plants traditionally used in Austria, 63 plant species or genera with claimed anti-inflammatory properties listed in the VOLKSMED database were assessed for their in vitro anti-inflammatory activity.Material and methods71 herbal drugs from 63 plant species or genera were extracted using solvents of varying polarities and subsequently depleted from the bulk constituents, chlorophylls and tannins to avoid possible interferences with the assays. The obtained 257 extracts were assessed for their in vitro anti-inflammatory activity. The expression of the inflammatory mediators E-selectin and interleukin-8 (IL-8), induced by the inflammatory stimuli tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and the bacterial product lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was measured in endothelial cells. The potential of the extracts to activate the nuclear factors PPARα and PPARγ and to inhibit TNF-α-induced activation of the nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) in HEK293 cells was determined by luciferase reporter gene assays.ResultsIn total, extracts from 67 of the 71 assessed herbal drugs revealed anti-inflammatory activity in the applied in vitro test systems. Thereby, 30 could downregulate E-selectin or IL-8 gene expression, 28 were strong activators of PPARα or PPARγ (inducing activation of more than 2-fold at a concentration of 10 µg/mL) and 21 evoked a strong inhibition of NF-κB (inhibition of more than 80% at 10 µg/mL).ConclusionOur research supports the efficacy of herbal drugs reported in Austrian folk medicine used for ailments associated with inflammatory processes. Hence, an ethnopharmacological screening approach is a useful tool for the discovery of new drug leads.

Content of phenolic compounds in wild populations ofEpilobium angustifoliumgrowing at different altitudes

“…However, due to insufficient clinical data, no medicinal products with predefined indication are commercially available in Europe (Kujawski et al, 2011;Stolarczyk et al, 2013a). Rosebay willow-herb shows antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antiproliferative, and anti-exudative activities (Hevesi Toth et al, 2009;Kiss et al, 2011;Kosalec et al, 2013;Onar et al, 2012;Stolarczyk et al, 2013b;Vitalone et al, 2001Vitalone et al, , 2003Vogl et al, 2013). The anti-inflammatory activity of E. angustifolium has been closely related to its flavonoids evidenced by the finding of myricetin 3-O-glucuronide as strongly active (4 10-fold more potent than indomethacin) in the rat paw edema test, a model of acute inflammation (Hiermann et al, 1998) and showing an inhibitory effect on prostaglandin biosynthesis (Hiermann et al, 1991).…”

The evaluation of the healing proprieties of pumpkin and linseed oils on deep second-degree burns in rats

“…These two plants have been used in the traditional pharmacopeia mainly to reduce prostate enlargement (Adame & Adame, 2000) and to treat infections (Vogl et al, 2013). Recent studies demonstrating the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties for these two extracted oils (Eraslan et al, 2013;Hammar et al, 1999;Kaithwas & Majumdar, 2012;Kaithwas et al, 2011), have given us an impetus to pay a special attention to them.…”

Medicinal plants with wound healing potential

“…Powdered leaf extract of this plant is traditionally used to reduce the nose bleeding and excessive menstrual flow (Mueen Ahmed and Parsuraman, 2014). In folk medicine, this plant is used for the treatment of rheumatism, arthritis, anemia and prostate diseases (Vogl et al, 2013). Pharmacologically Urtica dioica has been reported to possess anti-inflammatory (Chrubasik et al, 2007), antibacterial, anti-oxidant, hypoglycemic (Ahangarpour et al, 2012) and antiviral activities (Uncini et al, 2005).…”