Ethnobotany of dioecious species: Traditional knowledge on dioecious plants in India

Publication date: 15 July 2018
Source:Journal of Ethnopharmacology, Volume 221
Author(s): Gopalakrishnan Saroja Seethapathy, Kaliamoorthy Ravikumar, Berit Smestad Paulsen, Hugo J. de Boer, Helle Wangensteen
Ethnopharmacological relevanceMore than 15,000 angiosperm species are dioecious, i.e., having distinct male and female individual plants. The allocation of resources between male and female plants is different, and also variation in secondary metabolites and sex-biased herbivory is reported among dioecious plants. However, little is known about the ethnobotany of dioecious species and whether preferences exist for a specific gender, e.g., in food, medicine or timber.Aim of the studyThe aim of this study was: 1) to study whether Indian folk healers have preference for plant genders, and to document their knowledge and use of dioecious species; 2) to understand the concept of plant gender in Indian systems of medicine and folk medicine, and whether Ayurvedic literature includes any references to gender preference.Materials and methodsLists of dioecious plants used in Indian systems of medicine and folk medicine were compiled. Ethnobotanical data was collected on perceptions and awareness of dioecious plants, and preferences of use for specific genders of dioecious species using semi-structured interviews with folk healers in Tamil Nadu, India. In addition, twenty Ayurvedic doctors were interviewed to gain insight into the concept of plant gender in Ayurveda.ResultsIndian systems of medicine contain 5–7% dioecious species, and this estimate is congruent with the number of dioecious species in flowering plants in general. Informants recognized the phenomenon of dioecy in 31 out of 40 species, and reported gender preferences for 13 species with respect to uses as timber, food and medicine. Among informants different plant traits such as plant size, fruit size, and visibility of fruits determines the perception of a plant being a male or female. Ayurvedic classical literature provides no straightforward evidence on gender preferences in preparation of medicines or treatment of illness, however it contains details about reproductive morphology and sexual differentiation of plants.ConclusionsA knowledge gap exists in ethnobotanical and ethnopharmacological literature on traditional knowledge of dioecious plants. From this explorative study it is evident that people have traditional knowledge on plant gender and preferential usages towards one gender. Based on this, we propose that researchers conducting ethnobotanical and ethnopharmacological studies should consider documenting traditional knowledge on sexual systems of plants, and test the existence of gender specific usages in their conceptual framework and hypothesis testing. Incorporating such concepts could provide new dimensions of scientific knowledge with potential implications to conservation biology, chemical ecology, ethnoecology and drug discovery.

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Neuropharmacological effects of essential oil from the leaves of Croton conduplicatus Kunth and possible mechanisms of action involved

Publication date: 15 July 2018
Source:Journal of Ethnopharmacology, Volume 221
Author(s): Raimundo Gonçalves de Oliveira Júnior, Christiane Adrielly Alves Ferraz, Juliane Cabral Silva, Roxana Braga de Andrade Teles, Mariana Gama Silva, Tâmara Coimbra Diniz, Uiliane Soares dos Santos, Ana Valéria Vieira de Souza, Carlos Eduardo Pereira Nunes, Marcos José Salvador, Vitor Prates Lorenzo, Lucindo José Quintans Júnior, Jackson Roberto Guedes da Silva Almeida
Ethnopharmacological relevanceCroton conduplicatus Kunth (Euphorbiaceae) is a Brazilian aromatic medicinal plant, widely known as "quebra-faca". In folk medicine, its leaves and stem-barks are used as a natural analgesic for the treatment of headaches.Aim of the studyIn this study, we describe for the first time the neuropharmacological potential of the essential oil obtained from the leaves of Croton conduplicatus (EO) in experimental models of pain, anxiety and insomnia. The mechanisms of action involved in these activities were also investigated.Material and methodsDifferent experimental models were used to evaluate the antinociceptive (acetic acid, formalin-induced nociception and hot plate tests), anxiolytic (elevated plus maze and hole board tests) and sedative (thiopental-induced sleeping time) effects of EO in mice. EO was evaluated in three different doses (25, 50 and 100 mg/kg, i.p.) and compared with positive and negative controls in all experimental protocols. When appropriate, animals were pretreated with pharmacological antagonists (naloxone, atropine and flumazenil) in order to evaluate the mechanisms of action involved. A docking study also was performed to identify possible targets involved.ResultsEO (25, 50 and 100 mg/kg, i.p.) demonstrated a significant antinociceptive activity in all experimental models. Pretreatment with naloxone or atropine reversed the antinociceptive response (p < 0.05), suggesting the involvement of opioid and muscarinic receptors, respectively. A docking study was performed with the major components identified in EO (1,8 cineole − 21.42%, spathulenol – 15.47%, p-cymene – 12.41% and caryophyllene oxide – 12.15%), demonstrating favorable interaction profile with different subtypes of muscarinic (M2, M3 and M4) and opioids (delta and mu) receptors. EO also showed anxiolytic (mainly at doses of 25 and 50 mg/kg, i.p.) and sedative (only at the dose of 100 mg/kg, i.p.) effects in mice. These pharmacological responses were reversed by flumazenil (p < 0.05), indicating possible involvement of GABAA receptors.ConclusionOur findings support the traditional use of this plant as a natural analgesic and suggest that EO is a multi-target natural product, presenting not only antinociceptive effect but also anxiolytic and sedative activities depending on the dose used.

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Widespread associations between trait conscientiousness and thickness of brain cortical regions

Publication date: 1 August 2018
Source:NeuroImage, Volume 176
Author(s): Gary J. Lewis, David Alexander Dickie, Simon R. Cox, Sherif Karama, Alan C. Evans, John M. Starr, Mark E. Bastin, Joanna M. Wardlaw, Ian J. Deary
The neural correlates of human personality have been of longstanding interest; however, most studies in the field have relied on modest sample sizes and few replicable results have been reported to date. We investigated relationships between personality and brain gray matter in a sample of generally healthy, older (mean age 73 years) adults from Scotland drawn from the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936. Participants (N = 578) completed a brain MRI scan and self-reported Big Five personality trait measures. Conscientiousness trait scores were positively related to brain cortical thickness in a range of regions, including bilateral parahippocampal gyrus, bilateral fusiform gyrus, left cingulate gyrus, right medial orbitofrontal cortex, and left dorsomedial prefrontal cortex. These associations – most notably in frontal regions – were modestly-to-moderately attenuated by the inclusion of biomarker variables assessing allostatic load and smoking status. None of the other personality traits showed robust associations with brain cortical thickness, nor did we observe any personality trait associations with cortical surface area and gray matter volume. These findings indicate that brain cortical thickness is associated with conscientiousness, perhaps partly accounted for by allostatic load and smoking status.



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Increased Circulating Follicular Regulatory T-Like Cells May Play a Critical Role in Chronic Hepatitis B Virus Infection and Disease Progression

Viral Immunology, Ahead of Print.


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Facile fabrication of paper-based silver nanostructure electrodes for flexible printed energy storage system

Publication date: 5 August 2018
Source:Materials & Design, Volume 151
Author(s): Sunho Kim, Tae Gwang Yun, Chiwon Kang, Min-Jung Son, Jun-Gu Kang, Il-Hwan Kim, Hoo-Jeong Lee, Chee-Hong An, Byungil Hwang
In this study, we explored the facile and quick dry transfer method to fabricate a paper-based electrode for flexible printed energy storage system. The conventional Ag nanoparticle suspension with high solid contents above ~50 wt% was confirmed to be deposited on a super hydrophobic polyethylene terephthalate (SHP-PET) substrate without a special ink formulation or surface treatment of substrate. The silver nanoparticle (AgNP) layer on the SHP-PET was able to be transferred only onto the toner-printed region of the paper substrate during a simple lamination process, thereby realizing the patterned AgNP conductive lines on the paper substrates. The AgNP/toner/paper electrodes were highly robust, showing no deterioration in conductivity after taping for 100 times. Moreover, the AgNP/toner/paper electrodes successfully functioned as flexible electrodes; thus, light emitting diodes connected to the AgNP/paper electrodes could be operated under folding deformation without significant loss of brightness. As a potential application in flexible energy storage systems, a flexible supercapacitor based on the AgNP/toner/paper electrodes as the current collector was also demonstrated; it showed an excellent power density of 10.79–16.64 kW/kg and energy density of 1.85–4.65 Wh/kg.

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Hollow TiO2 flake prepared from TiO2 coated glass flake for solar heat protection and their thermal performance

Publication date: 15 July 2018
Source:Materials & Design, Volume 150
Author(s): Hee Jung Kim, Hyun Jin Lee, Dae-Sung Kim
Hollow TiO2 flake (HTFs) for use as a solar protection material were prepared using TiO2 coated glass flake (TGF), followed by the etching of their core. Rutile TiO2, with high refractive index applied for solar heat protection, was densely and completely coated onto the glass flake (GF) surface using a titration method and a final shell thickness of 200–400 nm was achieved. The solar reflectance of the TGF improved to 89% with increasing CIE lightness (L*). Furthermore, HTF with a hollowed out size of approximately 1–2 × 20 μm were also obtained by etching their core GF with HF solution, resulting in a reduced thermal conductivity. The UV–Vis-NIR spectra, optical properties, and thermal conductivity of the hollow TiO2 flake was investigated to determine their solar heat protection capabilities. The HTF exhibits a higher solar reflectance (90%) and lower thermal conductivity (80 mW/m·k) than solid GF and TGF. Hence, HTF is a suitable candidate for developing solar heat protection materials with a dual function.

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Pembrolizumab combined with stereotactic body radiotherapy in a patient with human immunodeficiency virus and advanced non-small cell lung cancer: a case report

Pembrolizumab has significantly improved outcomes in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer. Combining programmed death-1 inhibitor with stereotactic body radiotherapy showed a slight toxicity and g...

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