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Background: Insomnia is one of the most prevalent sleep disorders which affect the quality of life. Due to high prevalence of this disease and the side effects of sedative drugs, people tend to use herbal remedies. There are some oral or topical prescriptions in Persian medicine texts for the treatment of insomnia. The aim of this study was to investigate topical treatments for insomnia in Iranian traditional medicine (ITM) and comparing them with current therapies in modern medicine. Methods: In this study, ITM textbooks including the Canon of Medicine, Teb-e-Akbari, Kholasat al-Hekmah, Makhzan al-Advieh, Exir-e-azam, Al-Aghraz al-Tibbia, Val Mabahess al-Alaiia, Sharh-al-Asbab-val-Alamat, Tohfa-al-Momen, and Qarabadeen-e-Kabir were searched to investigate effective topical therapies for treating insomnia. Further, relevant studies on these topical remedies were searched at databases such as PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, and ScienceDirect from the beginning till June 2018 and the results were presented as tables. Results: There are some herbs which have been recommended in ITM for the treatment of insomnia in topical dosage form such as ointment, lotion, nasal drop, and oil. The most important herbs used in these topical dosage forms were lettuce, violet, almond, pumpkin, and water lily. Some of these herbal therapies including lettuce and violet have been studied in clinical trial for insomnia. Conclusion: Findings of the present study showed that according to ITM texts, there are some effective topical herbal remedies which can be used in treatment of insomnia with less adverse effects.

Echium amoenum Fisch. and Mey. (Boraginaceae) is a plant which is used widely in Iranian folk medicine, especially for anxiety and depression. In this study, published scientific reports about the composition and pharmacological properties of this plant were reviewed. The electronic databases including Google Scholar, PubMed, ScienceDirect, Scopus, Web of Science, and Scientific Information Database were searched from 1970 to May 2016 and the data were summarized.Efficacy of E. amoenum (especially petals of E. amoenum) was studied in different in vitro, in vivo, and clinical evaluations. Furthermore, some chemical compounds such as rosmarinic acid, echimidine, and cyanogenic glycosides were isolated from E. amoenum petals. According to the results, E. amoenum showed various biological activities such as antimicrobial, antiviral, antioxidant, antidiabetic, analgesic, immunomodulatory, and anxiolytic effects. Clinical studies on E. amoenum showed effectiveness of this plant in depression and anxiety disorders. More clinical trials are recommended for evaluating different beneficial effects of this plant in human models and synthesis of new drugs from the active ingredients of this plant in the future.

Introduction: The harmful action of the free radicals which cause the oxidative stress can be blocked by antioxidant substances, and different plant extracts showed antioxidant activity. The aim of this study is was evaluation the antioxidant activity of total methanol extract (ME) and subfractions of Euphorbia splendida Mobayen. Materials and Methods: Aerial part of E. splendida was extracted by maceration with methanol and then subfractionated by liquid–liquid fractionation using petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate, and water. Antioxidant activity was assessed by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity assay, reduction of ferric ions and ferrous ion chelating potential. Total phenolic contents (TPC) and total flavonoid contents (TFC) were estimated with Folin-Ciocaltue and aluminum chloride methods, respectively. Results: The findings revealed that E. splendida ME and subfractions showed a dose-dependent antioxidant activity. ME showed the highest antioxidant activity based on total reduction capability and ferrous ions chelating assay tests. Aqueous fraction and then ethyl acetate fraction showed the best IC50in DPPH radical scavenging test in comparison to butylated hydroxytoluene. ME showed the highest value of TPC and TFC (270.74 ± 0.005 mg/g and 208.23 ± 0.007 mg/g, respectively). Conclusion: This study showed that the extract and subfractions of E. splendida have antioxidant activity. The antioxidant activity of the extract and fractions might be attributed to the presence of phenolic compounds. More studies are needed to determine the active antioxidant compounds of this plant. SUMMARY Total extract and subfractions of Euphorbia splendida showed antioxidant activity. Abbreviations Used: TPC: Total phenolic content, TFC: Total flavonoid content, DPPH: 2, 2’- diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl, BHT: Butylated hydroxytoluene, EDTA: Ethylene Diamine Tetra Acetic acid, ME: Total methanol extract, EAF: Ethyl acetate fraction, AQF: Aqueous fraction, PEF: Pertolium ether fraction, CHF: Chloroformic fraction