Published in:
01-11-2017 | Editorial
Ulcerative colitis: a phytomedical technical note
Authors:
Masood Sepehrimanesh, Seyedeh Leila Poorbaghi
Published in:
Comparative Clinical Pathology
|
Issue 6/2017
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Excerpt
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) consists of two similar but distinct diseases including ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD) (Hosseini et al.
2016). The etiology of UC is not clearly known and some different reasons such as immune system dysfunction, genetic susceptibility, changes in the gut flora, and environmental factors may be involved (Taghavi et al.
2016; Tanideh et al.
2017). Also, recently, the role of autophagy in UC was clarified (Lankarani et al.
2016). Despite the underlying causes, there are several different therapeutic strategies for UC including using 5-amino salicylic acid drugs (sulfasalazine, mesalazine, and asacole), immunosuppressive agents (corticosteroids, azathioprine, infliximab, and adalimumab), iron supplements, bacterial recolonization, surgical approaches, and alternative treatments. In this regard, use of medicinal plants and their derivatives such as essential oil, alcoholic, aqueous, and hydroalcoholic extracts has obtained more attention by scientists. I and my colleagues published several studies on the in vivo effects of some medicinal plants such as
Satureja khuzestanica (Hafezi et al.
2015),
Berberis vulgaris (Karami et al.
2016), and
Galega officinalis and
Trigonella foenum-graecum (Shojaee et al.
2015) in diabetes mellitus,
Zizyphus jujuba (Koohi-Hosseinabadi et al.
2015a),
Carum carvi (Mardani et al.
2016),
Olea europaea (Showraki et al.
2016), and other species (Sepehrimanesh
2016) in oral mucositis,
Satureja khuzestanica (Assaei et al.
2015) and
Pistacia atlantica (Nazifi et al.
2012) in thyroid dysfunction,
Thymus vulgaris (Koohi-Hosseinabadi et al.
2015b) in hyperlipidemia,
Berberis vulgaris (Yazdani et al.
2013) on intestinal morphology plus in vitro antimicrobial activity of
Scutellaria luteo-
caerulea (Nikbin et al.
2014a) and
Calotropis procera (Kazemipour et al.
2014a), antihelminthic effect of
Peganum harmala (Roozitalab et al.
2017) and antioxidant properties of
Scutellaria luteo-
caerulea (Kazemipour et al.
2014b),
Calotropis procera (Kazemipour et al.
2015) and
Mentha piperita (Najafian et al.
2016) and
Stevia rebaudiana (Najafian et al.
2016). Now, we know that these effects are due to mineral elements, phenolic compounds, or other active substances (Kazemipour et al.
2015; Najafian et al.
2016; Nikbin et al.
2014b). …
