The new locally endemic genus Yazdana (Caryophyllaceae) and patterns of endemism highlight the high conservation priority of the poorly studied Shirkuh Mountains (central Iran).

Although mountain ranges are often recognized as global biodiversity hotspots with a high level of endemism, diversity and biogeographic connections of isolated and weakly explored mountains remain poorly understood. This is also the case for Shirkuh Mts. in central Iran. Here, Yazdana shirkuhensis gen. & spec. nov. (Caryophylleae, Caryophyllaceae) is described and illustrated from the high alpine zone of this mountain. Molecular phylogenetic analyses of nuclear and plastid DNA sequence data show that Y. shirkuhensis is related to Cyathophylla and Heterochroa (tribe Caryophylleae). The newly described genus and species accentuate Shirkuh Mts. as a center of endemism, which harbors a high number of narrowly distributed species, mostly in high elevations reaching alpine habitats. As this area is currently not protected, a conservation priority is highlighted for high elevations of Shirkuh Mts.

Cytotoxic sesquiterpene lactones from the aerial parts of Inula aucheriana.

Inula aucheriana DC is a member of the family Asteraceae which is known to produce cytotoxic secondary metabolites noted as sesquiterpene lactones. In the present study, sesquiterpene lactones inuchinenolide B, 6-deoxychamissonolide (stevin) and 14-acetoxy-1ß,5α,7αH-4ß-hydroxy-guai-9(10),11(13)-dien-12,8α-olide were isolated from I. aucheriana. Inuchinenolide B and 14-acetoxy-1ß,5α,7αH-4ß-hydroxy-guai-9(10),11(13)-dien-12,8α-olide were further evaluated by the MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) assay to demonstrate cytotoxic activity with IC50 values of (56.6, 19.0), (39.0, 11.8), and (55.7, 15.3) µg/mL against HepG-2, MCF-7 and A-549 cells, respectively. The cytotoxic activity of the two evaluated sesquiterpene lactones partly explains the cytotoxic activity that was previously observed for the extracts of Inula aucheriana. The isolated compounds could be further investigated in cancer research studies.

Cytotoxic activity of some medicinal plants from hamedan district of iran.

Medicinal plants have been investigated for possible anti-cancer effects. The aim of the present study was to examine the cytotoxic activity of several medicinal plants on different tumor cell lines. 11 selected plant species which have been used in folkloric prescriptions were collected from different sites of Hamedan district of Iran. The methanolic extracts of the plants were prepared and their cytotoxic effects on four human cancer cell lines (A549, human lung adenocarcinoma; MCF7, human breast adenocarcinoma; HepG2, hepatocellular carcinoma and HT-29, human colon carcinoma) and one normal cell line (MDBK, bovine kidney) were examined using the MTT assay. Three of these were exhibited antiproliferative activity against one or more of the cell lines. The extract from Primula auriculata demonstrated the highest cytotoxicity with IC50 of 25.79, 35.79 and 43.34 µg.mL-1 against MCF7, HepG2 and HT- 29 cells, respectively. For some of the plants, their traditional use was correlated with the cytotoxic results, whereas for others the results may support the non-cytotoxicity of species used traditionally as natural remedies. The cytotoxic species could be considered as potential of anticancer compounds.

Ethnobotanical survey of herbal remedies traditionally used in Kohghiluyeh va Boyer Ahmad province of Iran.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Medicinal plants are an important element of medical system. These resources are usually regarded as part of cultural traditional knowledge. We present for the first time the results of an ethnobotanical survey in Kohghiluyeh va Boyer Ahmad province of Iran, conducted between 2008 and 2010. This information could be the basis of an evidence based investigation to discover new drugs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ethnobotanical data were analyzed by use-reports in addition important indices like relative frequency of citation (RFC) and cultural importance index (CI) were calculated. Totally 23 informants were interviewed. RESULTS: Our study reports 138 traditionally used plant species, belonging to 52 plant families from this province. Asteraceae and Lamiaceae are the dominant locally used families. The highest number of species and application were reported for digestive system disorder, metabolic disorder and respiratory system, respectively. The part of the plant most frequently used was the aerial part (31.9%), leaves (14.8%) and fruits (11.7%). The plants are used both for medicinal and non-medicinal purposes. Daphne mucronata Royle. and Teucrium polium L. have the largest value of relative frequency of citation and cultural importance index, respectively. CONCLUSION: Kohghiluyeh va Boyer Ahmad has good ethnobotanical potential for medicinal plants. This study is the first contribution to the ethnobotany of this region. We have gathered from this province some considerable knowledge about local medicinal plants for treating common health problem that is ready to be further investigated in the laboratory.