ABSTRACT
ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL IMPORTANCE: Animal derived products have been a source of medicinal compounds since ancient times. This work documents the use of animal species in traditional medicine in the municipality of Aquismón, San Luis Potosí, México. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Direct interviews were performed with inhabitants from Aquismón. The interviews were analyzed with two quantitative tools: (a) the informant consensus (ICF) that estimates the level of agreement about which animals may be used for each category and (b) the relative importance (RI) that determines the extent of potential utilization of each species. RESULTS: A total of 24 animal species used for medicinal purposes, belonging to 22 families and 4 taxonomic categories, were reported by interviewees. Nine medicinal species had not been reported in scientific literature. The results of the IFC showed that diseases of the respiratory systems had the greatest agreement. The most versatile species according to their RI are Crotalus atrox and Mephitis macroura. CONCLUSION: Further studies with medicinal fauna from Aquismón are required for the experimental validation of their traditional uses, especially with Mephitis macroura and Crotalus atrox.
Subject(s)
Biological Products/therapeutic use , Crotalus , Medicine, Traditional , Mephitidae , Respiratory Tract Diseases/drug therapy , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Animals , Ethnopharmacology , Female , Humans , Male , Mexico , Middle Aged , Young AdultABSTRACT
The antimicrobial effects of the Mexican medicinal plants Guazuma ulmifolia, Justicia spicigera, Opuntia joconostle, O. leucotricha, Parkinsonia aculeata, Phoradendron longifolium, P. serotinum, Psittacanthus calyculatus, Tecoma stans and Teucrium cubense were tested against several human multi-drug resistant pathogens, including three Gram (+) and five Gram (-) bacterial species and three fungal species using the disk-diffusion assay. The cytotoxicity of plant extracts on human cancer cell lines and human normal non-cancerous cells was also evaluated using the MTT assay. Phoradendron longifolium, Teucrium cubense, Opuntia joconostle, Tecoma stans and Guazuma ulmifolia showed potent antimicrobial effects against at least one multidrug-resistant microorganism (inhibition zone > 15 mm). Only Justicia spicigera and Phoradendron serotinum extracts exerted active cytotoxic effects on human breast cancer cells (IC50 < or = 30 microg/mL). The results showed that Guazuma ulmifolia produced potent antimicrobial effects against Candida albicans and Acinetobacter lwoffii, whereas Justicia spicigera and Phoradendron serotinum exerted the highest toxic effects on MCF-7 and HeLa, respectively, which are human cancer cell lines. These three plant species may be important sources of antimicrobial and cytotoxic agents.
