Identification of medicinal plants effective in infectious diseases in Urmia, northwest of Iran

Objective: To identify the medicinal plants effective in infectious diseases.Methods: Initially, we obtained a list of herbalists and traditional healers from Food and Drug Deputy. Direct observations and interviews as well as collection of herbarium specimens of indigenous medicinal plants effective in infectious diseases of urinary tract,reproductive, digestive, respiratory and skin systems were performed. This study was conducted through questionnaires and interviews; the questionnaires were distributed among traditional healers and simultaneous interviews were also run. The plants were herbariumized, herbarium specimens were authenticated, and their species were determined by using reliable flora and other sources. Finally, the data were input into Excel2010 and analyses were performed.Results: Out of the studied plants, 35 native medicinal plants belonging to 17 families were effective in the treatment of various diseases and infections. In this study, the Lamiaceae family had the highest frequency of plants for the treatment of infections.Traditional healers of Urmia in 24% of cases used the leaves of medicinal herb to treat patients. In 68% of cases, they prescribed medicinal herbs in the boiled forms. Most medicinal herbs showed therapeutic effect on the digestive system.Conclusions: Traditional medicinal sources, valuable knowledge of traditional healers in Urmia, the scientific investigation of the effects of the herbs offered in this study and their effects in traditional medicine may provide a good source for new drugs in modern medicine.

Leishmaniosis phytotherapy: Review of plants used in Iranian traditional medicine on leishmaniasis

Many native plants in traditional medicine have been used for the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis and the recent clinical trials have proven the efficacy of some of them. Researches conducted on these plants have shown that garlic, shallots, wormwood, yarrow, walnuts, thyme, henna plant, mimosa, aloe, wood betony, medlar, periwinkle, yeah, savory, black beans, etc. are ef ective on cutaneous leishmania. Synthetic agents in Iranian market have some disadvantages such as high cost and side ef ects and are painful in injections. Given the ef ectiveness of these plants, they can be a source of natural and safe compounds for the treatment of Leishmania. Therefore, more clinical researches should be done to determine the ef ectiveness and safety of these medicinal plants, their active ingredients and their possible toxic substances which can lead to the production of ef ective and safe drugs for leishmaniasis. It also might be an ef ective way to prepare herbal ointment on wound healing.