Treatment of hydatid disease is mainly surgical, with medical treatment being reserved as a coadjuvant treatment. Use of effective scolicidal agents during surgery of cystic echinococcosis is essential to reduce the recurrence rate. The goal of this study was to evaluate the in vitro scolicidal effects of hydroalcoholic extracts of Satureja khuzestanica leaves and aqueous extracts of Olea europaea leaves on hydatid cyst protoscolices. Echinococcus granulosus protoscolices were collected from the liver of sheep infected with the hydatid cyst. Various concentrations of plant extracts were used in different exposure times for viability assay of protoscolices. Among the olive leaf extracts tested, 0.1% and 0.01% concentrations had strong scolicidal effects in 120 min. S. khuzestanica 0.1% had very strong scolicidal effects in 30, 60, and 120 min of exposure times and the mortality rate decreased with the lower concentration. The finding have shown that the scolicidal activity of S. khuzestanica against cystic echinococosis protoscolices were more effective, while the O. europaea extract showed less effects.
Animals ; Anthelmintics/*pharmacology ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Echinococcosis/drug therapy/*parasitology ; Echinococcus granulosus/drug effects/physiology ; Humans ; Olea/*chemistry ; Plant Extracts/*pharmacology ; Plant Leaves/chemistry ; Satureja/*chemistry

Parasites and parasitic diseases are widely spread in the world. Their adverse effects on health and social-economic society cause tremendous public health problems. Parasitic infections in different ways (water, soil, food and vegetables) can affect humans and induce other complications such as gastrointestinal disorders, malnutrition, anemia and allergies and sometimes even life threatening. Medicinal plants are being widely used, either as a single drug or in combination with synthetic drugs. These medicinal plants are considered as a valuable source of unique natural products and drugs for development of medicines against various disorders and diseases. In this article the recently published papers about medicinal plants and parasites were reviewed, using scientific sites such as Medline, PubMed and Google Scholar. The used terms included: herbal medicine, medicinal plants, and antihelmintic drugs, antinematoda, anticestoda, antitrematoda. From the above collected literature it might be concluded that these plants are promising potential sources for preparation of new drugs or for pharmacological and therapeutic applications.

Objective: To identify medicinal plants witch are used for headaches and migraines treatment in Lorestan province of Iran. Methods: Traditional medical herbs information was acquired from indigenous people with the cooperation of health centers of Doroud, Borujerd, Khorramabad, Aleshtar Poldokhtar, Aligoodarz, Nourabad and Kouhdasht cities. The prepared questionnaires were given to trained health volunteers. They attended in the villages and recorded people beliefs in herbal therapy by the questionnaires. Results: The results of this study showed that people used 15 herbs traditionally to treat headaches. Because of the importance of the medicinal plants in the study area, it is neccessary to determine sociological studies the plenty of plant species. Conclusions: Because of the widespread use of traditional medicinal plants and high tendency to herbal medicine and traditional medicine, more extensive researches should be designed in several areas of pharmacy and pharmacology of medicinal plants to prepare proper information for pharmaceutical industries.

Objective: To determine the chemical composition, antioxidant activity and antibacterial properties of essential oils of the aerial parts of Salvia sclareoides (S. sclareoides). Methods: The essential oil of the areal parts of S. sclareoides was obtained by using hydrodistillation method and the composition of the volatile components analyzed by gas chromatography method coupled with mass spectrometry detector. The antimicrobial capacity of the essential oil of S. sclareoides was investigated by microdilution technique. The antioxidant activities were determined employing inhibition of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl hydrate radical method. Results: Mass spectra were searched against mass spectrometry databases and sixty components were recognized. Non-terpenoids (41.6%) and sesquiterpenes (39.7%) were determined as the main components of the essential oil. The main identified components were, linalool (27.6%), trans-caryophyllene (16.6%), beta.-trans-ocimene (11.831%), germacrene-D (10%), bicyclogermacrene (3.3%) and caryophyllene oxide (2.8%). Two monoterpens (13.2%) and three oxygenated sesquiterpenes (5.5%) were also obtained from the essential oil of the S. sclareoides. Conclusions: Results indicated that essential oil of S. sclareoides includes rather higher proportions of non-terpenoid and sesquiterpenes compounds with good antioxidant and antibacterial properties.