RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: The relative darkening of the lower eyelid skin, which is often linked with dark circles, may make you seem fatigued and older than your real age. Considering the recommendations in the sources of Persian medicine regarding Artemisia absinthium L., the purpose of this clinical trial is investigating the effectiveness of cream prepared from the aqueous extraction of A.absinthium to remove periorbital dark circles. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The eye cream is made with 20% of aqueous extract of A.absinthium in the base of the cream. It was standardized based on Artemisinin via HPLC method. For the clinical trial, 60 patients equally enrolled in two drug and placebo groups. Erythema and Pigmentation were evaluated via a mexameter instrument. RESULTS: The cream is standardized, including 1.29±0.02 µg/mg Artemisinin in the product. Finally, 21 and 24 patients reached the end of study in drug and placebo groups, respectively. In these groups, the difference in the mean (SD) DE, DL, Erythema and Melanin factors before and after the research were significant (p0.05). However, the rate of reduction of DE, Erythema, and Melanin and rise of DL is greater in the treatment group than in the placebo group. Furthermore, the mean value of DE and DL factors before the research were significantly different in two groups (p0.001), but after the research did not show a significant difference. The mean value of Erythema factor in the two groups before (p=0.25) and after (p=0.5) did not show a significant difference. The mean value of Melanin after the research between two groups showed a significant difference (p=0.01). CONCLUSION: The results show that the cream prepared from the herbal composition of Persian medicine improves Infra Orbital Dark circle around the eyes.
RESUMEN
The gastrointestinal tract is one of the most important organs of the human body and is vulnerable to different diseases. Available drugs often have low efficacy or are associated with many adverse effects. Therefore, alternative drugs are necessary to treat gastrointestinal complications. This study intended to identify medicinal plants in Urmia, Iran, that can affect common gastrointestinal disorders and diseases. Data was collected from public resources via interviews and questionnaires applied from April to June 2013. Herbarium specimens were collected from the region and authenticated by a botanist. A total of 41 indigenous medicinal plants from the Urmia region, belonging to twenty families, have a traditional medicinal role in the treatment of parasitic and infectious diseases, diarrhea, reflux, gastroenteritis, peptic ulcer, constipation, bloating, among other gastrointestinal tract disorders. Analysis showed that most plants affecting the gastrointestinal tract belonged in the Asteraceae family (24%). The most used part of the plants was the seed at 17%. Decoction at 65% was the most popular form of treatment used. Some of the medicinal plants discussed in this article have new implications presented for the first time. Pharmacological studies on the therapeutic effects of the indigenous plants mentioned in this study are necessary in order to investigate their claimed clinical effects and the use of their effective compounds to produce natural and useful drugs. Currently, there is no data on the herbal plants used to treat gastrointestinal disorders in northwestern Iran. Therefore, these findings are important for the management of gastrointestinal disorders and to conduct future studies on traditional medicine for drug development.