Search

Amethodological approach to regional ecological and pharmacognostic quality assessment of medicinal plant raw materials has been developed. Modern physicochemical analytical methods (atomic absorption spectrometry, gas chromatography, spectroradiometry, chromatography-mass spectrometry, spectrophotometry, gravimetry) were used for a comprehensive study of the ecological and pharmacognostic state of medicinal plant raw materials using knotgrass (Polygonum aviculare L.), absinth herb (Artemisia absinthium L.), common yarrow herb (Achillea millefolium L.), motherwort herb (Leonurus quinquelobatus Gilib.), plantain leaves (Plantago major L.), nettle leaves (Urtica dioica L.), linden flowers (Tilia cordata Mill.), tansy flowers (Tanacetum vulgare L.), dandelion roots (Taraxacum officinalis F. H. Wigg), and burdock roots (Arctium lappa L.) as examples. Contamination of them by various ecotoxins (heavy metals and arsenic, organochlorine pesticides, natural radionuclides) and the accumulation of the main groups of biologically active compounds (BACs) (flavonoids, phenolcarboxylic acids, hydroxycinnamic acids, essential oils, polysaccharides) were studied. Voronezh Region was chosen as a model region. A correlation between the contents of these ecotoxins in the upper soil layers and the plants was revealed. The impact of the determined ecotoxins on the accumulation of the various groups of BACs in the medicinal plant raw materials was studied. Features and regularities of the accumulation of heavy metals and arsenic, pesticides, radionuclides, and the main groups of BACs in plants of various ecotopes are shown. The results of the theoretical and experimental studies of the quality of plant resources formed the basis of methodological approaches developed to conduct regional ecological and pharmacognostic quality assessment of medicinal plant raw materials that can be scaled for studying plant resources of other territories of the Russian Federation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The features of extracting macroelements from medicinal plant raw materials (pharmacopoeial types) into infusions and decoctions were studied. The richest mineral compositions were found in infusions of Urtica dioica L. leaves, Leonurus quinquelobatus Gilib. herb, and Plantago major L. leaves and the decoction of Arctium lappa L. roots. The transfer of potassium into the extracts was relatively low (from 35.69% to 67.49%) although its content in all studied infusions and decoctions ranged from 62.72% to 75.99% of the entire elemental composition. High concentrations were noted for calcium (from 4.82 to 23.27% of the elemental complex of infusions and decoctions) and phosphorus (from 2.35% to 14.76%). The degree of calcium extraction varied from 7.11% to 32.30%; phosphorus, from 12.73% to 53.39%; magnesium, from 22.11% to 33.00%. Sodium amounted to 0.23 – 1.12% of the elemental profile of the aqueous extracts while the degree of sodium extraction was the highest among all determined macroelements (77.69 – 99.39%). The dependences of the macroelement content in infusions and decoctions on their content in the medicinal plants showed that their concentrations in the water extracts increased as the concentration of all determined elements in the raw material increased although the efficiency of their transfer into the aqueous extracts decreased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accumulation of macro- and trace elements by medicinal plant raw materials (MRMs) from soils in the natural biocenosis of Voronezh Region is studied. Potassium and phosphorus belong to a group of macroelements highly accumulated in all studied MRMs. Arelatively high level of calcium accumulation was noted in leaves of common plantain (Plantago major) and nettle (Urtica dioica); of magnesium, in leaves of U. dioica. Essential elements including zinc and copper were strongly accumulated by all types of MRMs. Molybdenum was strongly accumulated in linden flowers, yarrow and bitter wormwood herbs, plantain leaves, and especially strongly in nettle leaves. Cobalt was strongly accumulated in roots of the studied plant species. Nettle leaves strongly accumulated mercury. High strontium accumulations were noted in burdock roots, nettle and plantain leaves, and yarrow herb. Knotweed (Polygonum aviculare) herb strongly accumulated tellurium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Allergen-specific immunotherapy (ASIT) is a method of treating allergic diseases with an IgE-mediated mechanism of development. ASIT is effective in the treatment of allergic diseases caused by various allergens. Medicines obtained from plant pollen are used to treat allergies caused by it. The lack of uniform, precise, and transparent requirements for pollen has led to urgent development of science-based methodological approaches that can improve the quality of this plant-based pharmaceutical substance. Existing global and domestic regulatory requirements for the quality of pollen and medicines based on it were analyzed and compared. The main methodological approaches to the quality of initial pollen raw materials were determined and studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between the contents of heavy metals and principal groups of biologically active substances in plant raw material was traced using Polygonum aviculare L. and Plantago major L. collected in ecologically different regions of Voronezh Oblast as examples. Close negative correlations were found between flavonoids of P. aviculare and copper, cadmium, and zinc and between water-soluble polysaccharides from P. major leaves and chromium, nickel, and arsenic. The results were relevant to research on plant pharmacognosy and physiology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]