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The seventeenth century
Published in Michael J. O’Dowd, The History of Medications for Women, 2020
The vervain plant, Verbena officinalis, takes its name from the Latin verbena, and the Old French verveine. The plant was long believed to have great aphrodisiac, magical and medicinal powers and was hung around the necks of children as an amulet to ward off infections (Vickery, 1995). The ancient Egyptians knew vervain by it’s symbolic name ‘tears of Isis’. In the first century AD Cornelius Celsus described vervain in his De mediana relating how the leaves and twigs of the plant were commonly used in ceremonial processions (Spencer, 1871). Verbena was the classical name for altar plants. Dioscorides described two species of vervain, Verbena supina and Verbena recta (the latter was also known as Sacra herba or Herba sanguinalis). He reported that ye leaves applied as a Pessum with Rosaceum or New Swine’s Grease, do cause a sensation of ye womb pains’ (Gunther, 1959). During Saxon times in England (fifth and sixth centuries AD) it was thought that if a person wore a sprig of vervain they would not be barked at by dogs.
Herbs with Antidepressant Effects
Published in Scott Mendelson, Herbal Treatment of Major Depression, 2019
Verbena officinalis, commonly known as vervain, is a plant that grows wild throughout most of Europe, North Africa, China, and Japan. It has been used for medicinal purposes for thousands of years in both Asian and European medical traditions. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, it has been used for clearing away heat, detoxification, promoting blood circulation, and removing blood stasis.1 As far back as the first century ad, the Greek physician Dioscorides called Verbena officinalis the “sacred herb,” and for many centuries, it was taken as a cure-all.2 In the traditional Ayurvedic medicine of India, Verbena officinalis has been used for treatment of a variety of psychiatric conditions, such as anxiety, depression, hysteria, and insomnia.3 Modern study of Verbena officinalis has revealed antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective, and possibly antidepressant effects. Among the prominent components of Verbena officinalis are beta-sitosterol, ursolic acid, oleanolic acid, 3-epiursolic acid, 3-epioleanolic acid, verbenone, verbenalin, hastatoside, verbascoside, and beta-sitosterol-D-glucoside. Many of those, when isolated and purified, have been found to be biologically active.4
Managing Mania and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Published in Ethan Russo, Handbook of Psychotropic Herbs, 2015
Verbena was included both as a nervine and a stomachic. It is quite bitter and stimulates appetite; production of digestive enzymes, mucus, and hydrochloric acid; hepatic and biliary activity; and absorption of nutrients and elimination of wastes. In addition, it has long been considered a tonic nervine, being stimulating and relaxing at the same time. It is traditionally used for hysteria and anxiety. It has been shown to stimulate both sympathetic and parasympathetic tone, which herbalists believe points to the herb’s intrinsically balancing or regulating effect upon the nervous system.
Verbascoside inhibits paraquate-induced pulmonary toxicity via modulating oxidative stress, inflammation, apoptosis and DNA damage in A549 cell
Published in Drug and Chemical Toxicology, 2022
Nastaran Khorashadizadeh, Ali Neamati, Mohammad Moshiri, Leila Etemad
In our study, generation of ROS and decrease in antioxidant enzyme activities were observed after PQ exposure and VB, an exogenous antioxidant, was able to limit oxidative stress on alveolar basal epithelial cells exposed to PQ and significantly reduced the ROS level. The antioxidant capacity of VB, along with very bioactive substances, has been evaluated in vivo, in vitro, and in clinical studies using various methods of detection (Aleo et al.2005, Korkina et al.2007, Mazzon et al.2009, Etemad et al.2015, Etemad et al.2016). Although VB has been shown to have direct antioxidant and free radical scavenging activities compared with other polyphenolic compounds (Pastore et al.2012, Alipieva et al.2014), its metabolites were also able to improve the function of the major antioxidant enzymes. In the experimental model of mild-to-moderate colitis, consumption of lemon verbena infusion induced an increase of the SOD activity (Lenoir et al.2011). Similarly, it has been shown in heroin-dependent mice that treatment with VB significantly increased activities of SOD, CAT and GPx in the brain (Qiusheng et al.2005). A similar result was observed in LPS stimulated-THP-1 cells exposed to VB (Speranza et al.2010). Other studies reported different effects of VB on the antioxidant enzyme network (Dell’Aquila et al.2014, Di Giancamillo et al.2015). Such a link can be suggested in our work, since VB exposure increased the capability of the three major enzymatic antioxidant defense systems SOD, CAT and GPx, following exposure to PQ.
Differential effect of herbal tea extracts on free fatty acids-, ethanol- and acetaminophen-induced hepatotoxicity in FL83B hepatocytes
Published in Drug and Chemical Toxicology, 2022
Guan-Wen Chen, Tai-Yuan Chen, Pei-Ming Yang
Acetaminophen overdose is the major cause of drug-induced acute liver failure (Yan et al.2018). We found that treatment with acetaminophen at the concentrations more than 2.5 mM induced significant hepatotoxicity in FL83B cells (Figure 4(A)). To investigate the effect of herbal extracts on acetaminophen-induced hepatotoxicity, FL83B cells were treated with 10 mM acetaminophen for 24 h with or without herbal extracts, and then cell viability was analyzed by an MTT assay. We found that herbal extracts from Verbena officinalis L. (Ex-1), Hyssopus officinalis L. (Ex-2), Salvia officinalis L. (Ex-3), Urtica dioica L. (Ex-4), Hemerocallis fulva (L.) L. (Ex-5), and Ficus formosana Maxim. (Ex-8) could protect FL83B cells from acetaminophen-induced cytotoxicity (Figure 4(B)).
Interactive effects of zinc oxide nano particles and different light regimes on growth and silymarin biosynthesis in callus cultures of Silybum marianum L.
Published in Artificial Cells, Nanomedicine, and Biotechnology, 2021
Muhammad aamir Shehzad, Mubarak Ali Khan, Amir Ali, Sher Mohammad, Ahmed Noureldeen, Hadeer Darwish, Asif Ali, Ayaz Ahmad, Tariq Khan, Raham Sher Khan
ZnO NPs supplementation into cultures has shown to enhance TPC and TFC in callus cultures of notable medicinal plants. For instance, the callus culture of Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni developed on media supplemented with 100 mg/L ZnO NPs under normal light, accumulated the maximum TPC (5.65 μg/mg of DW) and TFC (2.85 μg/mg of DW) [38]. In another study, ZnO NPs enhanced TPC (22.12 and 12.18 mg) and TFC (6.38 and 2.7 mg g−1) in in-vitro cultures of Verbena. officinales and Verbena. Tennuisecta, respectively [47]. In this study, minimum TPC and TFC were detected in culture proliferated under normal light and PGRs (2,4-D and BA, 2 mg/L each) only. However, the callus cultures treated with ZnO NPs and kept under dark for 2 weeks followed by transference to normal light, accumulated maximum quantities of TPC and TFC, respectively.