Traditional medicine system of India comprised varieties of plants which are playing a significant role in curing diseases from ancient times. Among them, Enicostemma littorale blume (E. littorale) a perennial herb of the family Gentianaceae is cosmopolitan in occurrence in India. The bittery natured plant acts as a laxative, helps in curing fever, rheumatism, skin diseases, abdominal disorders, snake bite, obesity and helps to regulate blood sugar levels. The plant constituents have been reported for possessing antimicrobial, antioxidant, antiulcer, antiinflammatory, hypolipidaemic, hepatoprotective and hypoglycemic properties. This review provides a bird's eye view about geographical distribution, physicochemical parameters, phytoconstituents and pharmacological properties of E. littorale.
Gentianaceae ; chemistry ; physiology ; India ; Medicine, East Asian Traditional ; Pharmacognosy ; Plant Dispersal ; Plant Extracts ; chemistry ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; physiology

Vitexin, a naturally occurring flavone glycoside in plants, has many pharmacological effects, which is widely distributed in nature. This paper reviewed the research progress of the distribution of vitexin in the plant resources and its pharmacological effects, and summarized its application prospects, aiming to provide a useful reference for the development of vitexin-enriched plant resources.
Animals ; Antineoplastic Agents ; pharmacology ; Antioxidants ; pharmacology ; Apigenin ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Hypoglycemic Agents ; pharmacology ; Myocardial Infarction ; drug therapy ; Plant Dispersal

PURPOSE: Determining the culprit allergen is important for the diagnosis and management of allergic diseases. The skin prick test (SPT) has been widely used to identify culprit allergens. Skin reactivity to allergens has changed due to changes in lifestyle and outdoor environments. Therefore, the aim of the present paper was to examine changes in allergen sensitization in Korea. METHODS: We enrolled 1,135 patients with respiratory allergic diseases who were diagnosed at Severance Hospital from January 2010 to December 2011. SPTs were performed with inhalant allergens, and were compared to our previous studies of the SPTs in the 1980s and the 1990s. RESULTS: In the 2010s, the SPT positive rate of allergic rhinitis or allergic conjunctivitis was higher than asthma without allergic rhinitis or allergic conjunctivitis. The SPT positive rate was decreased by increments of age (P value <0.01). Skin reactivity to tree pollens was significantly increased to 36.4% in the 2010s from 19.0% in the 1990s and 8.8% in the 1980s. Among tree pollens, skin reactivity to oak (4.7%->14.4%), birch (7.1%->13.6%), alder (6.3%->13.4%) and pine (2.9%->14.3%) was significantly increased in the 2010s compared with the 1990s, respectively. Current skin reactivity to grass pollens (13.9%) and weed pollens (27.0%) has significantly decreased since the 1990s (20.3%, 40.9%, respectively). Skin reactivity to house dust mites showed no difference between the 1990s (55.2%) and the 2010s (55.6%). Skin reactivity to dog (27.3%->20.7%) and cockroach (25.3%->12.3%) have significantly decreased in the 2010s in comparison with the 1990s. CONCLUSIONS: In light of the above results, we revealed the changes in skin reactivity to inhalant allergens that have occurred in Korean allergic patients over the past three decades. Since outdoor environmental factors such as the amount of pollen, global warming and plant distribution causes the changes in skin reactivity, further study and continuous close observation will be needed.
Allergens ; Alnus ; Animals ; Asthma ; Betula ; Cockroaches ; Conjunctivitis, Allergic ; Diagnosis ; Dogs ; Global Warming ; Humans ; Korea ; Life Style ; Plant Dispersal ; Poaceae ; Pollen ; Pyroglyphidae ; Rhinitis ; Skin ; Skin Tests

To investigate the resources of medicinal plant, such as wild Apocynum, supervised classification based on Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and texture feature were used to monitor wild medicinal plants from image captured by ZY-3 and World-view-2 and compare which satellite Image are more appropriate to monitor the wild medicinal plants. The research results shows that: for more complex growth conditions wild medicinal plants Apocynum, high-resolution images Worldview-2 is more suitable for its remote identification, the low-resolution satellite ZY-3 can only recognizes the wild medicinal plants which distributed intensively. If the study target distribution is more intensive and larger scale, and cultivated type medicinal plants, the use of satellite ZY-3 in low resolution remote sensing data to identify the target can be a good choice, it is not necessary to buy high-resolution data, in order to avoid waste of expenditure, for the scattered distribution, the high-resolution satellite imagery data may be indispensable to identify targets.
Apocynum ; chemistry ; growth & development ; China ; Conservation of Natural Resources ; Geographic Information Systems ; Plant Dispersal ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; growth & development ; Remote Sensing Technology ; methods