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Water extract of Viburnum opulus L. (Caprifoliaceae) (VO) leaf was investigated for antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities in mice and rats. The tail flick test, acetic acid-induced writhing test, and the carrageenan-induced rat paw edema test were used to determine these effects. Our findings show that VO causes dose related inhibition in acetic acid-induced abdominal stretching in mice. VO inhibited abdominal stretching at 100 and 200 mg/kg. VO showed antinociceptive activity, which was quantified by the tail-flick test at doses of 100 and 200 mg/kg. However, VO did not have an anti-inflammatory effect at these doses. The LD50 of VO was determined as 5.447 g/kg. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The present study reports the potential antinociceptive, anti-inflammatory and hepatoprotective activities of lycorine from Sternbergia fischeriana (Herbert) Rupr. (Amaryllidaceae). Lycorine was evaluated on mice by using acetic-acid induced writhing and tail-flick tests. Lycorine exhibited stronger inhibition than aspirin in acetic-acid induced abdominal stretching at 1.0mg/kg dose. Lycorine also showed antinociceptive activity at 1.0mg/kg dose in tail-flick test. The anti-inflammatory activity of lycorine was not found to be significant at dose of 0.5mg/kg. However, at doses of 1.0mg/kg and 1.5mg/kg, i.p. showed a significant reduction with 53.45% and 36.42%, respectively in rat paw oedema induced by carrageenan against the reference anti-inflammatory drug indomethacin (3mg/kg, i.p.) (95.70%). The ED50 of lycorine was determined as 0.514mg/kg. Hepatoprotective activity of lycorine on carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) induced acute liver toxicity following biochemical parameters were also evaluated. Rats were treated with lycorine at doses of 1.0mg/kg and 2.0mg/kg, i.p. Results of biochemical tests were confirmed by histopathological examination. Lycorine exhibited significant hepatoprotective effect at dose of 2.0mg/kgi.p. dose. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Objective: The increasing prevalence of resistant microorganisms forced scientists to find new antimicrobial substances from different sources like medicinal plants. The aim of this study was to determine the antimicrobial activities of leaf extracts of some Alnus sp. against some bacteria and a yeast., Materials and Methods: Aqueous and ethanolic leaf extracts of A. glutinosa subsp. glutinosa, A. orientalis var. orientalis, A. orientalis var. pubescens were screened for their antimicrobial activities against Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923, S. aureus ATCC 43300 (MRSA), Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6633, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853 and Candida albicans ATCC 10231. Broth dilution method was used to determine the antimicrobial activities of plant extracts., Results: Ethanolic extracts of tested species exhibited better antimicrobial activity than aqueous extracts. Ethanolic extracts of tested species possessed activity having MIC values of 0.125-0.250 mg/ml against the tested microorganisms. No antibacterial activity was observed against B. subtilis, E. coli, P. aeruginosa for all the aqueous extracts. Except these aqueous extracts, the others possessed activity having MIC value of 1.000 mg/ml against the tested microorganisms., Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first investigation on the evaluation of antimicrobial activities on aqueous and ethanolic leaf extracts of these species. This study provides significant information about antimicrobial activities of leaf extracts of A. glutinosa subsp. glutinosa, A. orientalis var. orientalis, A. orientalis var. pubescens. It is conceivable that one of the reason for the usage of Alnus glutinosa, in treatment of wound healing in folk medicine, is because of its antimicrobial activity.

The ethyl acetate, methanol, and water extracts of 16 Ballota species (Family Lamiaceae)-Ballota acetabulosa, Ballota antalyanse, Ballota cristata, Ballota glandulosissima, Ballota inaequidens, Ballota larendana, Ballota latibracteolata, Ballota macrodonta, Ballota nigra ssp. anatolica, B. nigra ssp. foetida, B. nigra ssp. nigra, B. nigra ssp. uncinata, Ballota pseudodictamnus ssp. lycia, Ballota rotundifolia, Ballota saxatilis ssp. brachyodonta, and B. saxatilis subsp. saxatilis-were screened for their 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical quenching, ferric-reducing antioxidant power, and ferrous ion-chelating capacity at 1mg/mL. Hispanolone, a major diterpene found in the Ballota genus, was also tested in the same manner. Total phenol and flavonoid contents of the extracts were determined by Folin-Ciocalteau and AlCl(3) reagents, respectively. The extracts showed insignificant quenching activity against DPPH radical, but they had moderate antioxidant activity (0.597 ± 0.03 to 1.342 ± 0.01) in the ferric-reducing test compared to chlorogenic acid (the reference compound) (3.618 ± 0.01). All of the extracts (ranging from 65.1 ± 0.64% to 96.3 ± 0.09%) and hispanolone (97.31 ± 0.30%) exerted a remarkable ferrous ion-chelating effect. The highest total phenol (gallic acid equivalent) and flavonoid (quercetin equivalent) contents were found in the ethyl acetate extract of B. glandulosissima (393.7 ± 3.03 and 140.6 ± 1.97 mg/g of extract, respectively). Therefore, Ballota species could be a good source of natural preservatives in foodstuffs.