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This survey is a part of a broader ethnobotanical research conducted amongst visitors of protected areas in Bulgaria. The aim of the present study was to find out which herbs are collected by the visitors. Two types of interviews were conducted – among visitors of the Shumen Plateau Nature Park and among users of social network Facebook. Only small proportion from both groups collected medicinal plants from the visited areas. On the other hand, their answers revealed the knowledge about the most used medicinal plants in Bulgaria. Notably, most of them specify, that they comply with legal requirements and that the collected herbs are for personal use only. There are some differences between two groups – a smaller proportion of the online group collected medicinal plants from natural habitats, but demonstrated a greatest knowledge than the visitors of the Shumen Plateau Nature Park. Reported medicinal plants by the respondents are widely distributed in Bulgaria. Two endangered species have been mentioned: Aesculus hippocastanum L. and Sideritis scardica Griseb. Four medicinal plants were cited from both groups: – Hypericum perforatum L., Thymus sp. div., Tilia tomentosa Moench and Rosa canina L. Results revealed also the major disadvantages of the online surveys – skewed respondents, as only people interested in using herbs participate in the survey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Socially significant diseases are defined as widespread diseases causing great economic, social and demographic damage. Nowadays traditional health practices have gained increasing interest. The aim of this online survey was to establish the knowledge of a random sample of Bulgarian people about traditional medicines in order to find out: 1) the knowledge about the use of medicinal plants for some socially significant diseases; 2) the attitudes of respondents towards the medicinal plants safety; 3) the statement whether the herbs can replace conventional drugs. In present survey the most used medicinal plants reported was Crataegus monogyna Jacq., Zingiber officinale Roscoe, Allium sativum L., Valeriana officinalis L., Sambucus nigra L., Cinnamomum verum J. Presl and Curcuma longa L. Current scientific studies proved appropriate use reports of these plants. One of the reasons for the renewed interest in phytotherapy is the assumption that anything natural is safe, but there are data that herbal chemical constituents could exert toxic effects. The demographic features of our respondents revealed the importance of the level of education for the self-health care. So, more efforts should be focused on the spread of disease prevention information in low educated populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current studies are focused on medicinal plants secondary metabolites as a source of new anticancer agents. The aim of this study was to evaluate in vitro influence of methanolic extracts of Achillea thracica Velen. from natural habitat, in vitro propagated and ex vitro established plants on tumor cells proliferation/viability. All extract tested (50 µg/ml for 24 hours) significantly inhibited SK-HEP-1 cell line proliferation/viability (Р ≤ 0.05). The inhibitory effect of ex vitro established plants was slightly weaker in comparison with A. thracica grown in its natural habitat. So, ex situ conservation of A. thracica enables an opportunity to explore its valuable phytochemicals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional herbal medicine has gained increasing interest. Modern ethnobotany is focused on documentation of traditional knowledge as a base data for plant diversity protection. The present survey aimed to estimate the status of uses of medicinal plants in current Bulgarian society. The study is focused on most commonly used wild plants in studied regions as a basic information for development of plant protection strategies. Ethnobotanical information was collected during semi-structured interviews. Respondents have been selected based on their knowledge - people known to be particularly interested in traditional health practices. Respondents declare empiric knowledge as the major source of information. So, results revealed medicinal plants explored for decades in studied regions. A total number of 88 plant species, belonging to 43 families were recorded. The most dominant plant families were Asteraceae (28%), Lamiaceae (26%) and Rosaceae (19%). Majority of cited species are wild (60.2%), including protected species Galanthus nivalis L., Primula veris L., Asplenium scolopendrium L. and Sideritis scardica Griseb. (Balkan endemic). Herbs represent the majority (72.7%) of the reported plant species. The most used parts of the plants were leaves (40.9%). To our knowledge this is the first survey in Bulgaria only with selected respondents. The number of plants reported reflects well-preserved traditional knowledge in the investigated region. Quantitative analysis revealed the significance of species for local people. Majority of cited species are wild. From the point of view of sustainable ecology information to local people about the importance of preservation of natural habitats of wild species should be provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stevia rebaudiana (Bertoni) Bertoni (Asteraceae) and Salvia hispanica L. (Lamiaceae) (chia) are functional foods used worldwide today. Additionally, aerial parts of both plants contain valuable secondary metabolites. Chemical composition of stevia and chia exhibits wide variations depending on geographic region, climatic conditions, time of plant collection etc. Nowadays there is a renewed interest on plants bioactive compounds concerning two important health problems: contamination of the environment with agrochemicals and inability to treat cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate allelopathic and in vitro anticancer activity of water extracts made from the aerial parts of micropropagated stevia and chia grown in Bulgaria in laboratory conditions. The allelopathic potential was evaluated using germination and root/shoot elongation assays and Allium cepa-test. Water extracts of plants tested had no significant influence on seed germination, but affected seedling growth. Chia was more effective in suppressing growth, as compared to stevia. Effective Concentration causing 50% growth inhibition (EC50) value was determined: 11.12 g/l (stevia) and 6.17 g/l (chia). After exposure to extracts (EC50, for 24 h) mitotic indices in root meristem cells were extremely low. In such a case it is not recommended to score chromosomal aberrations. The results of the study revealed that water extract of chia possess much stronger allelopathic activity than stevia. Cytotoxic effect in vitro was evaluated using cell proliferation/viability of human hepatoma cell line SK-HEP-1. In the present study, stevia and chia water extracts had no influence on cancer cell line tested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education plays an essential role in awareness and prevention of unhealthy lifestyles associated with body weight changes. The present survey aims: (1) to estimate the knowledge of causes and consequences of under/overweight among biology students and (2) to state their knowledge of beneficial functions of adipose tissue and their ability to define adipose tissue types in human body. The survey was carried out at Shumen University (Bulgaria). The biology students during their first semester at university, after their first year of education and master's degree were interviewed. The participants were asked: (1) to classify (rate 1 - 5) causes of under/overweight: disorders of digestive system, endocrine system disorders, psychological problems, stress, physical activity; (2) to describe the known by them health risks associated with being under/overweight; (3) to state their knowledge of any beneficial functions of adipose tissue; (4) to define adipose tissue types in human organism. Stress was considered as a main cause of underweight (37.35%) and lack of physical activity - as a main reason of overweight (31.93%). A small proportion of students (22.29%) was able to describe some negative consequences of reduced body weight, and 45.78% described some obesity-linked diseases. More than a half (57.23%) of respondents had a poor knowledge of significance of white adipose tissue. Only 10.24% of the respondents were able to distinguish white and brown types of adipose tissue, and a single student depicted beige adipocytes. A disturbing lack of sufficient knowledge of importance of healthy body weight among biology students was revealed. High school and university biology programs should be aimed at linking scientific knowledge with health consequences. The impact of level of education must be noticed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a clear need for new, more effective anticancer drugs. Activity of involved in cell pathology proteins is controlled by different ligands, including various small organic molecules. Therefore, great attention has been paid on diversity-oriented synthesis in order to generate collections of such molecules. Phosphorylated α-hydroxyallenes (BA) represent a group of small organic molecules with structural similarity. Some of them were found to have antibacterial and antifungal activity. Present study aimed to evaluate effects of four representatives of phosphorylated α-hydroxyallenes on human hepatoma cell line SK-HEP-1 in vitro using cell proliferation assay. The dose-response effect of the randomly selected compound was determined to select the cytotoxic dose (namely BA-2; dose range 100-500 8g/ml, for 24 h). The results revealed concentration-dependent and statistically significant inhibition effect of BA-2. The half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) value was determined - 150 8g/ml. The calculated IC50 value was used to assess the effects of the three other BA tested. After treatment with BA-5 and BA-7, cell viability was similar to those of control, respectively about 111% and 90%. Interestingly BA-6 stimulated cell proliferation at tested dose. The results suggest that the influence on proliferation/viability of cancer cell line greatly depend on the structural changes of phosphorylated α-hydroxyallenes BA-2, BA-5, BA-6 and BA-7. On the basis of observed strong inhibitory effect BA-2 can be selected for further testing as a potential precursor of effective anticancer drug. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]