Galbanic acid, a sesquiterpene coumarin from Ferula szowitsiana, and conferol, another sesquiterpene coumarin from F. badrakema, were evaluated for their effects on the reversal of multi-drug resistance in clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, respectively. Neither galbanic acid (up to 1000 μg/ml) nor conferol (up to 400 μg/ml) by itself shows any antibacterial activi...

AIM/BACKGROUND The development of resistance to synthetic drugs by target organisms is a major challenge facing medicine, yet locked within plants are phytochemicals used in herbal medicine (especially in the Arabian Peninsula) that may find application in this regard. In pursuit of unlocking these "hidden treasures," the methanol extracts of leaves, aerial parts, fruits, and resins of 17 plant...

The use of herbal medicinal preparations in dementia therapy has been studied based on experience from traditional medicine. A dichloromethane extract of gum ammoniacum, the gum-resin from Dorema ammoniacum D. Don had shown acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitory activity in a previous study. The aim of this study was the isolation and characterization of the active compounds from this resin. Th...

BACKGROUND In Ayurveda and traditional medicines of different countries such as Iran, America and Brazil, asafoetida has been used as an aphrodisiac agent. OBJECTIVE The present study was aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of asafoetida on spermatic and testicular parameters in treated rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 30 male Wistar rats divided equally to five groups (one control an...

Several complications attributed with Herpes virus related infections and the emergence of drug resistant viruses prompt scientists to search for new drugs. Several terpenoids and coumarins have shown anti HSV effects while no sesquiterpene coumarin have been previously tested for HSV treatment. Three sesquiterpene coumarins [badrakemin acetate (1), kellerin (2) and samarcandin diasteromer (3) ...