Black cohosh (Actaea racemosa L.) is a native North American species, where it is widely used as an herbal supplement for the relief of menopausal symptoms. It is available in Europe as a phytomedicine since the 1950s. Black cohosh commercial products were ranked in the top ten of supplement sales in the USA. In addition to A. racemosa, there are other North American and Asian Actaea species. D...

The difficulty in teasing apart the effects of biological invasions from those of other anthropogenic perturbations has hampered our understanding of the mechanisms underpinning the global biodiversity crisis. The recent elaboration of global-scale maps of cumulative human impacts provides a unique opportunity to assess how the impact of invaders varies among areas exposed to different anthropo...

OBJECTIVES We examined the prevalence of LAC, aCL antibodies (Abs), anti-beta(2)-glycoprotein I (anti-beta(2)GPI) Abs and anti-phosphatidylserine-prothrombin complex (anti-PS/PT) Abs in patients with regular livedo reticularis or with livedo racemosa to determine whether those Abs correlate with the clinical or serological features. Assuming that a correlation exists, early recognition of the s...

Alien Invasion: the spread of Caulerpa taxifolia in Australian waters The eradication or control of introduced marine pests will represent one of the greatest challenges of this century. Indeed, hundreds of introduced marine species are already present in Australian waters. Marine pests pose such a challenge because by the time they are discovered they are usually well established and almost im...

Biological invasions threaten biodiversity worldwide. Nonetheless, a unified theory linking disturbance and resistance to invasion through a mechanistic understanding of the changes caused to biodiversity is elusive. Building on different forms of the disturbance-biodiversity relationship and on the Biotic Resistance Hypothesis (BRH), we constructed conceptual models showing that, according to ...

To evaluate the cardioprotective potential of Inula racemosa in myocardial ischemic-reperfusion injury, Wistar male albino rats were randomly divided into four groups. The group I and II animals were administered saline orally {(sham, ischemia- reperfusion (I-R) control group)} and animals of group III and group IV received I. racemosa extract (100 mg/kg) for 30 days. On the 30th day, animals o...

To trace the interrelationships and for identification and characterisation of diversity among three species of medicinally important plant Bauhinia viz. B. acuminata B. purpurea and B. racemosa, belonging to subfamily Caesalpiniaceae, cytological study with respect to chromosome number, somatic chromosome length of component arms of chromosome, T. F% and chromosome type and seed protein variat...

European Medicines Agency (EMEA) and the Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products (HMPC) on July 2006 have released an alert to get European sanitary authorities aware of 42 cases of suspected hepatotoxic reactions in patients consuming Cimicifuga racemosa rhizome. In the public statement EMEA itself considered reliable as hepatotoxic reactions only four cases, on the base of RUCAM score: two wer...