The study of recently formed species is important because it can help us to better understand organismal divergence and the speciation process. However, these species often present difficult challenges in the field of molecular phylogenetics because the processes that drive molecular divergence can lag behind phenotypic divergence. In the current study we show that species of the recently diver...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of a preparation containing echinacea, propolis, and vitamin C in the prevention of respiratory tract infections in children during a 12-week winter period. DESIGN Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. SUBJECTS Four hundred thirty children, aged 1 to 5 years, were randomized to an herbal extract preparation (n = 215) or a plac...

Experimental evidence suggests that most herbs and spices possess a wide range of biological and pharmacological activities that may protect tissues against O2-induced damage. The objectives of the present study were: first, to determine the effects of plant extracts on the viability, membrane integrity, antioxidant status and DNA integrity of Caco-2 cells and second, to investigate the cytopro...

Near-infrared (NIR) reflectance spectroscopy was used to develop a fast identification method for Echinacea purpurea dried milled roots. Method development was carried out using a PLS (partial least-squares) algorithm and pretreatment options. The aim of this qualitative analysis was to confirm the identity of E. purpurea and to detect the presence of fraud, i.e., samples adulterated or substit...

A new test method for measuring the antioxidant power of herbal products, based on solid-phase spectrophotometry using tetrabenzo-[b,f,j,n][1,5,9,13]-tetraazacyclohexadecine-Cu(II) complex immobilized on silica gel, is proposed. The absorbance of the modified sorbent (lambda(max) = 712 nm) increases proportionally to the total antioxidant activity of the sample solution. The method represents a...

OBJECTIVE To review the evidence supporting complementary and alternative medicine approaches to treatment and prevention of the common cold in adults. QUALITY OF EVIDENCE MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews were searched from January 1966 to September 2009 combining the key words common cold or influenza with echinacea, garlic, ginseng, probiotics, vitamin C, and...

The common cold, or upper respiratory tract infection, is one of the leading reasons for physician visits. Generally caused by viruses, the common cold is treated symptomatically. Antibiotics are not effective in children or adults. In children, there is a potential for harm and no benefits with over-the-counter cough and cold medications; therefore, they should not be used in children younger ...

Background & Aim: Feed additives have been widely used to stimulate appetite, improve growth performance and immune system function in livestock nutrition. For many years antibiotics have been used in livestock production to improve growth performance. Following the ban on the use of antibiotic growth promoters in animal feeds in European Union and increasing demand for organic...

background: nowadays, there's a growing demand for the natural antioxidants due to the harmful effects of synthetic antioxidants. therefore, introduction of new natural antioxidants (especially those with plant origin) is very important. objective: the present study explores the chemical constitution and antioxidant activity of leaf extract of hyssopus officinalis l. and extract of aerial ...