Browsing by Subject "Phytotherapy"
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Item Open Access Otoprotective Effects of Stephania tetrandra S. Moore Herb Isolate against Acoustic Trauma.(Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology : JARO, 2018-12) Yu, Yan; Hu, Bing; Bao, Jianxin; Mulvany, Jessica; Bielefeld, Eric; Harrison, Ryan T; Neton, Sarah A; Thirumala, Partha; Chen, Yingying; Lei, Debin; Qiu, Ziyu; Zheng, Qingyin; Ren, Jihao; Perez-Flores, Maria Cristina; Yamoah, Ebenezer N; Salehi, PezhmanNoise is the most common occupational and environmental hazard, and noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is the second most common form of sensorineural hearing deficit. Although therapeutics that target the free-radical pathway have shown promise, none of these compounds is currently approved against NIHL by the United States Food and Drug Administration. The present study has demonstrated that tetrandrine (TET), a traditional Chinese medicinal alkaloid and the main chemical isolate of the Stephania tetrandra S. Moore herb, significantly attenuated NIHL in CBA/CaJ mice. TET is known to exert antihypertensive and antiarrhythmic effects through the blocking of calcium channels. Whole-cell patch-clamp recording from adult spiral ganglion neurons showed that TET blocked the transient Ca2+ current in a dose-dependent manner and the half-blocking concentration was 0.6 + 0.1 μM. Consistent with previous findings that modulations of calcium-based signaling pathways have both prophylactic and therapeutic effects against neural trauma, NIHL was significantly diminished by TET administration. Importantly, TET has a long-lasting protective effect after noise exposure (48 weeks) in comparison to 2 weeks after noise exposure. The otoprotective effects of TET were achieved mainly by preventing outer hair cell damage and synapse loss between inner hair cells and spiral ganglion neurons. Thus, our data indicate that TET has great potential in the prevention and treatment of NIHL.Item Open Access Traditional medicine practices among community members with chronic kidney disease in northern Tanzania: an ethnomedical survey.(BMC Nephrol, 2015-10-23) Stanifer, John W; Lunyera, Joseph; Boyd, David; Karia, Francis; Maro, Venance; Omolo, Justin; Patel, Uptal DBACKGROUND: In sub-Saharan Africa, chronic kidney disease (CKD) is being recognized as a non-communicable disease (NCD) with high morbidity and mortality. In countries like Tanzania, people access many sources, including traditional medicines, to meet their healthcare needs for NCDs, but little is known about traditional medicine practices among people with CKD. Therefore, we sought to characterize these practices among community members with CKD in northern Tanzania. METHODS: Between December 2013 and June 2014, we administered a previously-developed survey to a random sample of adult community-members from the Kilimanjaro Region; the survey was designed to measure traditional medicine practices such as types, frequencies, reasons, and modes. Participants were also tested for CKD, diabetes, hypertension, and HIV as part of the CKD-AFRiKA study. To identify traditional medicines used in the local treatment of kidney disease, we reviewed the qualitative sessions which had previously been conducted with key informants. RESULTS: We enrolled 481 adults of whom 57 (11.9 %) had CKD. The prevalence of traditional medicine use among adults with CKD was 70.3 % (95 % CI 50.0-84.9 %), and among those at risk for CKD (n = 147; 30.6 %), it was 49.0 % (95 % CI 33.1-65.0 %). Among adults with CKD, the prevalence of concurrent use of traditional medicine and biomedicine was 33.2 % (11.4-65.6 %). Symptomatic ailments (66.7 %; 95 % CI 17.3-54.3), malaria/febrile illnesses (64.0 %; 95 % CI 44.1-79.9), and chronic diseases (49.6 %; 95 % CI 28.6-70.6) were the most prevalent uses for traditional medicines. We identified five plant-based traditional medicines used for the treatment of kidney disease: Aloe vera, Commifora africana, Cymbopogon citrullus, Persea americana, and Zanthoxylum chalybeum. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of traditional medicine use is high among adults with and at risk for CKD in northern Tanzania where they use them for a variety of conditions including other NCDs. Additionally, many of these same people access biomedicine and traditional medicines concurrently. The traditional medicines used for the local treatment of kidney disease have a variety of activities, and people with CKD may be particularly vulnerable to adverse effects. Recognizing these traditional medicine practices will be important in shaping CKD treatment programs and public health policies aimed at addressing CKD.