Herbal extract

The modern usage of P2" go Asts for the treatment of asthma dates to 1903 when the effect of injected epinephrine [51-43-4] (adrenaline) C2H23NO2, (1 R = CH3) was investigated (see Epinephrine and norepinephrine) (33). As in some other modem treatments, eg, xanthines and anticholinergics, the roots of P2" go Ast therapy for asthma can be found in historical records which document the use of herbal extracts containing ephedrine [299-42-3] C qH NO, (2) as bronchodilators. Epinephrine and ephedrine are stmcturaHy related to the catecholamine norepinephrine [51-41-2] CgH NO, (1, R = H), a neurotransmitter of the adrenergic nervous system (see Neuroregulators). 

Numerousherbai diureticsare available as over-the-counter (OTQ products. Most plants and herbal extracts available as OTCdiureticsare nontoxic. However, most are either ineffective or no more effective than caffeine. The following are selected herbals reported to possess diuretic activity cetery, chicory, sassafras juniper berries St. John s wort, foxglove, horsetail, licorice, dandelion, digital is purpurea, ephedra, hibiscus parsley, and elderberry. 

To sell well, the shampoo must look good, must feel thick or creamy in the hands, and must produce a nice-feeling lather. It must smell good, and it must not be too expensive. Other selling points might be the currently popular herbal extracts, or amino acids from exotic protein sources such as silk or the milk of pygmy goats. 

Herbal extracts used as API Collection of plants Cutting and initial extraction Further extraction Physical processing, and packaging... 

In the above two cases, active components were extracted, identified, and tested both pharmacologically and clinically. Other herb preparations, no matter how long they have been used, are still entities that are pharmacologically unknown. Herbal extracts also need better quality monitoring processes, since active components in plants may vary in different varieties and different seasons. If chemical synthesis is... 

A. Johne, J. Brockmoller, S. Bauer, A. Maurer, M. Langheinrich, and I. Root, Pharmacokinetic interaction of digoxin with an herbal extract from St. John s wort (Hypericum perforatum). Clin. Pharmacol. Ther., 66, 338-345 (1999). 

Feng-Qiao L, Xiu-Zhi L., Xi-Bin L, et al. Triptolide, a Chinese herbal extract, protects dopaminergic neurons from inflammation-mediated damage through inhibition of microglial activation. J Neuroimmunol 2004 148 24-31. 

Summarise the use of herbal extracts to improve cognition and mood. 

Mariassyova M. 2006. Antioxidant activity of some herbal extracts in rapeseed and sunflower oils. J Food Nutr Res 45(3) 104-109. 

Over the last decade, there has been a steady increase in the popularity and usage of natural products to enhance overall health. These nutraceuticals and functional foods modulate the function of various physiological systems including the immune system. By altering immunity, it is possible to augment an individual s ability to ward off infection, or suppress autoimmunity and chronic inflammatory diseases. Thus, the renaissance of herbal extracts as well as the increased consumption of other dietary components has afforded the public a relatively inexpensive way to self-medicate. 

Despite neuropharmacolgical and animal data to support sedative and anxiolytic effects of passionflower, there have not been any such controlled studies in humans. Two studies have been published that examined the effects of combined herbal extracts on anxiety, including passionflower (Bourin et al. 1997). Although there were significant and experimentally controlled effects, a combined herbal treatment confounds the ability to selectively identify the effects of passionflower. A second controlled study was similarly confounded by the use of a three-herb combination (Gerhard et al. 1991). 

Scholey A, Kennedy D, Wesnes K. (2005) The psychopharmacology of herbal extracts Issues and challenges. J Psychopharmacol (fieri) 179 705-707 author reply 708-711. 

Another interesting development is the use of the naturally occurring herbal extract hypericin (4.35), which has the extended quinone structure (4.35), in both photodiagnosis and therapy. This is given to the patient, either orally or topically, who is then illuminated with blue hght. The cancer tumours show up as red spots, the hght from which can be recorded on a red sensitive camera, subjected to computational analysis and then converted into an image on the computer. 

PHARMACOLOGICAL ACTIVITIES AND CLINICAL TRIALS Alkaline phosphatase stimulation. Extract of the leaf, administered orally to adults, was active. Patients with subacute hepatic necrosis had negative workup, except for consumption of 15 tablets of the herbal extract per day for 4 months L Anthelmintic activity. Water and petroleum ether extracts of the dried oleoresin were active on Eimeria tenella in chicken - . Anti-amoebic activity. The resin of Larrea produced inhibitory activity at a concentration of 1 ppm on Entamoeba invadens PZ axenic cultures. The nordihydroguaiaretic acid activity was observed at 10" to 10" concentrations - . 

R. Min, S. H. Lee, and Y. S. Kim. In- S1061 hibitory effect of herbal extracts of DOPA oxidase activity of tyrosinase. 

Because of the interest in and popularity of alternative and complementary medicines and healing practices, the scientific method is being applied to a wide variety of these remedies. Different types of studies seek to establish if and how individual, alternative medicines exert their effect. Clinical trials are being conducted to compare a specific alternative medicines with the accepted conventional medical standard of care for a specific condition thus, for example, an herbal extract may be compared with a pharmaceutical-grade drug to demonstrate unequivocally the safety and effectiveness of a product or practice. However, complementary and alternative medicine has only recently been deemed worthy of scientific scrutiny (for decades many natural remedies and practices were dismissed outright as being obviously inferior to Western science-based medicine), and many alternative therapies have not yet been... 

Budzinski JW, Foster BC, Vandenhoek S, Amason JT. An in vitro evaluation of human cytochrome P450 3A4 inhibition by selected commercial herbal extracts and tinctures. Phytomedicine 2000 7 273-282. 

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