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An ethnopharmacological survey was carried out among 224 informants to collect the information on medicinal plants used for the traditional treatment of female infertility in the Fes, Meknes and Boulemane region. In total, 63 plant species belonging to 29 families were used against female infertility. The most frequently cited plants wereLavandula officinalis(26.33%),Mentha pulegium(13.83%),Mentha suaveolens(11.16%),Rosmarinus officinalis(10.71%) andPetroselinum sativum(8.03%). Furthermore, the present study represents a useful documentation for the preservation of this knowledge about medicinal plants and for the amelioration of women reproductive health.

Coriandrum sativum L. seeds are traditionally used to treat diabetes and its complications (inflammation and formation of reactive oxygen species) around the world. The present study investigates the antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant effects of the polyphenol fraction of Coriandrum sativum seeds (PCS). Diabetic mice were orally administered with PCS (25 and 50 mg/kg b.w.) for 28 days. Oral glucose tolerance (OGTT) was also evaluated along with the anti-inflammatory effect, assessed by measuring paw edema development induced with carrageenan in Wistar rat and the antioxidant activity assessed using two tests (&beta, carotene discoloration and DPPH). Treatment of diabetic mice with PCS for four weeks managed their high fasting blood glucose levels, improved their overall health, also revealed an excellent antihyperlipidemic activity. The OGTT result showed a potent antihyperglycemic activity, and following the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects, the PCS exhibited a perfect activity. LC-MS/MS result revealed the presence of 9 polyphenols. This modest work indicates that the PCS have an important antidiabetic, antihyperglycemic, antihyperlipidemic, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant effect that can be well established treatment of diabetes and its complications.

The seeds of Ammodaucus leucotrichus Cosson and Durieu have been used in the North African Sahara as a traditional medicine to treat diabetes. The present study investigates the antidiabetic, antihyperglycemic, and anti-inflammatory properties of the defatted hydroethanolic extract of Ammodaucus leucotrichus (DHEAM). The antidiabetic and the antihyperglycemic studies were assessed on alloxan-induced diabetic with orally administered doses of DHEAM (100 and 200 mg/kg). At the same time, its anti-inflammatory propriety was evaluated by measuring edema development in the Wistar rats paw induced with carrageenan. Treatment of diabetic mice with DHEAM for four weeks managed their high fasting blood glucose levels, improved their overall health, and also revealed an excellent antihyperglycemic activity. Following the anti-inflammatory results, DHEAM exhibited a perfect activity. HPLC results revealed the presence of seven molecules (chlorogenic acid, 3-p-coumaroylquinic acid, gallic acid, ferulic acid, myricetin, quercetin, luteolin). This work indicates that the DHEAM has an important antidiabetic, antihyperglycemic, and anti-inflammatory effect that can be well established as a phytomedicine to treat diabetes.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the preservative efficacy of Origanum elongatum essential oil in topical cream under a challenge test that was performed following the standard procedure proposed by the European Pharmacopoeia, using standardized microorganisms. Essential oil was analyzed by GC–MS (gas chromatography–mass spectrometry). The antimicrobial activity of this essential oil was investigated by agar diffusion methods and broth microdilution assay to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration of essential oil required for preservation. The results demonstrated that the preservation effect was effective at 2% (v/w) of Origanum elongatum essential oil in topical cream, satisfying criterion A against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Aspergillus brasiliensis. However, the essential oil was ineffective against Pseudomonas aeruginosa with a reduction of 102 within 7 days of challenge and no increase up to the 28th day and against Candida albicans in the challenge test. Carvacrol predominated (63.06%), followed by the two monoterpenes hydrocarbons: γ-terpinene (15.99%) and p-cymene (9.51%). Our study highlighted the preservative power of Origanum elongatum essential oil as an alternative solution to chemical preservatives.

This study is designed to evaluate the analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities of aqueous extract (AE) of Cistus ladanifer L. leaves in experimental animal models. The central analgesic activity of C. ladanifer AE is studied using hot plate method in rats, and the acute anti-Inflammatory activity of C. ladanifer is investigated by rats paw edema induced by subplantar injection of 0.5% carrageenan into the right hind paw. Rats are pretreated with AE of C. ladanifer at different doses (150, 175, and 200 mg/kg, i.p.). The tramadol and indomethacin are used as reference drugs for analgesic and anti-inflammatory studies, respectively. Our results show that the AE of C. ladanifer exhibited anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects dose dependent. In anti-inflammatory activity, the AE of C. ladanifer at all doses reduced significantly the edema paw inflammation after carrageenan injection. Furthermore at 200 mg/kg, the effect of AE is highly important than that of other doses. In addition, the same AE demonstrates significant analgesic effect in thermal-induced pain model. So, this activity is proved by significant reduction of pain score after administration of AE at all doses. The nociception protection effects in this case are, respectively, 70.3%, 74.55%, and 93.33% after administration of AE of C. ladanifer at doses 150, 175, and 200 mg/kg b.w. The results of our findings suggest that AE of C. ladanifer has potential analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities with evidence of possible involvement of peripheral and central effects in its actions.

Origanum majorana L. is a plant commonly used in folk medicine to treat depression and several neurological disorders. This study aims to evaluate the antidepressant-like effect of the Origanum majorana L. polyphenols (OMP) obtained from the aerial parts using two different depression model tests: the forced swimming test (FST) and the tail suspension test (TST) in Swiss albino mice. The experiments were performed on days 1, 7, 14, and 21 with daily administration of different treatments. Two different doses were chosen for this study (50 and 100 mg/kg), and paroxetine was used as a positive control. Immobility as a consequence of the depression state was significantly reduced following the treatment with OMP, indicating an antidepressant effect. A subacute toxicity study was also performed following the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Guidelines (407), showing no sign of toxicity for the studied doses. The phytochemical screening revealed the presence of 12 components, all belonging to polyphenols: arbutin, rosmarinic acid, ursolic acid, quercetin-3-O-glucoside, quercetin-7-O-glucuronic acid, luteolin-7-O-glucoside, kaempferol-3-0-glucuronic acid, Kaempferol-3-0-pentose, caffeic acid, catechin, quercetin, and rutin. These findings suggest that O. majorana has interesting antidepressant-like properties, which deserve further investigation.

Introduction: Antiurolithiatic plants are used since ancient times, in the form of decoction, infusion, or juice, to eliminate kidney stones and to prevent their recurrence. On the basis of the available ethnopharmacological information, more scientific studies are needed to explore natural and safe antiurolithiatic compounds. Materials and Methods: The present work showed phytochemical screening, acute and sub-acute toxicity of aqueous extract of four plant's mixture: Aerial part (branches, flowers and leaves) of Herniaria glabra, flowers of Opuntia ficus-indica, Zea mays styles and fruits of Zizyphus lotus used traditionally against renal lithiases. Phytochemical screening was performed using qualitative methods. To measure acute toxicity, rats were administered orally by single doses of 0.1, 0.2, 0.5 and 2.0 g/kg body weight (b. w.) of extract of plant's mixture. General behavior adverse effects and mortality were determined during 15 days. For sub-acute study, the aqueous extract was administered at 100 mg/kg b. w. for 28 days to Wistar rats. Animals were monitored daily after an oral administration of aqueous extract of the mixture to detect any changes in b. w., behavior, autonomic profiles, or mortality. Calculation of relative organ weight (ROW) and biochemical analysis were carried out. Results: The acute oral toxicity study showed no mortality and no statistically significant decrease in b. w. and ROW of the treated groups of rats when compared to the control group was observed. In biochemical analysis, there was a significant increase in aspartate aminotransferase, creatinine, urea, and uric acid. Conclusion: This study found that aqueous extract of traditional recipe used against renal lithiasis in Fes-Meknes region containing: Flavonoids, tannins, catechic tannins, coumarins and the glycosides. The results of the acute and sub-acute toxicity studies indicated that the recipe extracts induce a slight hepatotoxic effects in rats treated orally with 100 mg/kg (b. w.).

Satureja briquetii L. (Labiatae) species are a well-known aromatic plant which is used to produce essential oils and aromatic water in the mountain regions of Sefrou part of Morocco. In our study, it was aimed to determine phytochemical and antioxidant activities of Satureja briquetii L. essential oils in vitro. Antioxidant activities of the oils at differents concentrations were evaluated using the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging. The extraction of essential oils from aerial part of this plant is carried out by hydrodistillation, and yields are 1.75% for dry aerial part and 1.05% for fresh aerial part. The analysis of the essential oils of dry aerial part from Satureja briquetii L. by GC/MS identified 57 principles compounds including Spathulenol (9.81%), Verbenone (4.35%), Camphene (3.56%), Himachalene (3,2%) and Cedrene (2,12%). The chromatographic profile of essential oils from fresh aerial part of Satureja briquetii L. has 49 constituents representing 96.25% of the essential oil, where the Menth-8-ene (14.99%), Cymene (4.97%) and Carene (4.97%) are major compounds. The Menth-1,4(8)-diene, (1,06%), Cubenol and Longifolene (3,44%) are in minority. Furthermore, the antioxidant activity of the essential art of Satureja briquetii L. was evaluated by the method of DPPH, and showed a significant efficiency in radical DPPH reducing with an IC50 value of of 31.027 ± 0.586 µg/ml from essential oils of dry aerial and 35.034 ± 0.0432 µg/ml in essential oils from fresh aerial part.

In this work, we characterized by high-performance liquid chromatography, the γ-tocopherol (573.66 μg/g), and by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, the linoleic acid (62.05%) as major components from Peganum harmala L. seeds oil and evaluated their potential in vivo acute antiinflammatory, analgesic activities, and in vitro antioxidative capacity. The 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay showed an important antioxidant activity (62.50% with an IC50 of 4.8 mg/mL). In addition, the antiinflammatory effect of the formulation cream at 20% caused a reduction in inflammation at 5 hours after carrageenan application compared with diclofenac at 1% (60.4%; 45.65%; respectively). A slight potential peripheral analgesia was noted in plantar test in treated rats with cream (20 s). Therefore, our findings demonstrate that formulation cream of P. harmala seeds oil has an interesting antiinflammatory activity with a slight peripheral analgesic effect due mainly to its richness on linoleic acid, γ-tocopherol, and polyphenols and to its important antioxidant capacity.