Objective: Asthma is an increasing chronic respiratory disease affecting over 300 million people worldwide. Several studies have shown that herbal remedies may improve asthma control and reduce asthma symptoms. In this study, the effects of short-course administration of an herbal mixture (ASMATUSTM) in asthmatic children during viral respiratory tract infection, were evaluated. Materials and M...

Background: The oxidant-antioxidants balance in the living organism is constantly challenged by internal and external pressures. Maidenhair or Adiantum capillus-veneris (Acv) is rich in bioactive compounds with antioxidant effects.  Objectives: The present study aimed at investigating the effect of Acv hydroalcoholic extract on the oxidative stress rate of blood and brain of mice in the depres...

BACKGROUND Wound healing is often impaired in diabetic animals and humans. Matrix metalloproteases act as pro-inflammatory agents in physiological wound healing pathways by stimulating cytokines including the interleukins, IL6, IL1A and IL1B, and the tumor necrosis factor and transforming growth factor beta1. Botanicals are traditionally used to assist healing of different types of wounds, beca...

Pteridophytes are not as well characterized at the molecular and biochemical level as some higher plants. However, to aid conservation efforts (4), there is growing interest in understanding the population biology of many fern species that are under threat. DNAbased studies offer excellent tools for such work, but are hampered in ferns by difficulties in obtaining good-quality DNA from sufficie...

BACKGROUND This paper presents the first quantitative ethnobotanical study of the flora in Toli Peer National Park of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan. Being a remote area, there is a strong dependence by local people on ethnobotanical practices. Thus, we attempted to record the folk uses of the native plants of the area with a view to acknowledging and documenting the ethnobotanical knowledge....

BACKGROUND Medicinal plants still play an important role in the Kurdish community. Sulaymaniyah Province in South Kurdistan (Iraq) has a great diversity of plants, including medicinal plants, yet very few scattered ethnobotanical studies conducted in Kurdistan are available in the scientific literature. Thus the study of Kurdish ethnobotany may be crucial for understanding local medicinal plant...