Survey of medical ethnobotanicals for dental and oral medicine conditions and pathologies.

Ethnomedical questionnaires were distributed in Chicago, Costa Rica, and Colombia to identify the most common over-the-counter (OTC) plant or plant-based products advocated for treating oral pain, ulcerative conditions, and cancer within these locations. Over 100 plants or plant-based herbal preparations and commercial products, purchased from local botanical markets and pharmacies, were advocated for the treatment of oral medicine conditions. Locally familiar and common language names were attributed to the plant products at the time of purchase. Plant products or plant-based commercial products containing plant-based essential oils, anesthetic constituents, and or chemical compounds recommended as OTC oral medicine preparations were systematized, tabulated, and correlated with the published phytotherapeutic literature. Though pharmacognostic research is available for some of the species collected, further ethnographic research is needed to correlate common names with the accurate taxonomic identification for each plant species. Furthermore, epidemiological research is needed to verify the use and standardized dosage for OTC ethnomedicine preparations for oral medicine conditions. Pharmacognostic research and clinical trails which can verify taxonomy, dose, safety, active principles, and efficacy of these OTC oral medicine products must be enhanced in order to verify the claimed validity in contemporary, global, oral medicine practice.

Symptoms, attitudes and treatment choices surrounding menopause among the Q'eqchi Maya of Livingston, Guatemala.

The present study explored symptoms, attitudes and treatments surrounding women's health and menopause among the Q'eqchi Maya of the eastern tropical lowlands of Guatemala. Data were obtained through participant observation, semi-structured interviews, focus groups and plant walks with 50 Q'eqchi community members from the state of Izabal, Municipality of Livingston, including five midwives, five traditional male healers and eight postmenopausal women. Results indicate that the Q'eqchi Maya of Livingston possess their own cultural perceptions of women's health which affect attitudes, symptoms and treatment choices during the menopausal transition. Since discussions of menstruation and menopause are considered cultural taboos among the Q'eqchi, many women mentioned experiencing excessive preoccupation when unanticipated and unfamiliar symptoms occurred. Furthermore, many women suffered from additional hardship when their spouse misinterpreted menopausal symptoms (vaginal dryness, sexual disinterest) as infidelity. Seven of the eight postmenopausal women interviewed indicated experiencing one or more symptoms during the menopausal transition, including headaches, anxiety, muscular pain, depression, and hot flashes. These results differ from the lack of symptomatology reported in previous studies in Mexico, but are in line with the result of menopausal research conducted among other Maya groups from the highlands of Guatemala. Although the Q'eqchi did not use a specific term for "hot flash", three Q'eqchi women used the expression "baja presion" or a "lowering of blood pressure" to explain symptoms of profuse sweating followed by chills, heart palpitations, and emotional instability. The Q'eqchi Maya mentioned a number of herbal remedies to treat menopausal symptoms. Further research on these botanical treatments is needed in order to ascertain their safety and efficacy for continued use.

Identification of chelerythrine as an inhibitor of BclXL function.

The identification of small molecule inhibitors of antiapoptotic Bcl-2 family members has opened up new therapeutic opportunities, while the vast diversity of chemical structures and biological activities of natural products are yet to be systematically exploited. Here we report the identification of chelerythrine as an inhibitor of BclXL-Bak Bcl-2 homology 3 (BH3) domain binding through a high throughput screening of 107,423 extracts derived from natural products. Chelerythrine inhibited the BclXL-Bak BH3 peptide binding with IC50 of 1.5 micro m and displaced Bax, a BH3-containing protein, from BclXL. Mammalian cells treated with chelerythrine underwent apoptosis with characteristic features that suggest involvement of the mitochondrial pathway. While staurosporine, H7, etoposide, and chelerythrine released cytochrome c from mitochondria in intact cells, only chelerythrine released cytochrome c from isolated mitochondria. Furthermore BclXL-overexpressing cells that were completely resistant to apoptotic stimuli used in this study remained sensitive to chelerythrine. Although chelerythrine is widely known as a protein kinase C inhibitor, the mechanism by which it mediates apoptosis remain controversial. Our data suggest that chelerythrine triggers apoptosis through a mechanism that involves direct targeting of Bcl-2 family proteins.