Plant transformation is an important tool with many applications in modern plant biology. Although this technique is primarily used to produce superior crop varieties, it is also being utilized to answer basic questions concerning gene function and regulation in contemporary functional genomics research. In our laboratory, we have established a transformation system for Hypericum perforatum. Th...

The ethnopharmacology of Madeira and Porto Santo Islands is extremely interesting because of the cultural and biogeographic features of this region, which make it a centre of medicinal plant diversity (richness of endemic flora, geographical isolation in the Atlantic sea, crosscultural influences, and past abundance of local healers). The medicinal flora of Madeira is composed of 259 species. S...

conclusions considering the strong historical background about the therapeutic potential of the genus hypericum and the considerable cytotoxic and apoptosis induction ability of hypericum scabrum, this species is suggested for future biological studies. results di-chloromethane fraction demonstrated ic50 values of 25.72 μg/ml and 24.73 μg/ml against ht-29 and hepg-2 cell lines, respectively and...

Therapeutic uses of Hypericum extracts have been demonstrated as safe and effective in treating mild to moderate depression in numerous clinical trials. To date, however, no definitive statements on their mode of action can be made, and little information on their electrophysiological effects is available. The present communication summarises the results of our efforts directed towards clarifyi...

The study shows the influence of the origin of plant material and biological source on the in vitro antioxidant (neutralization of DPPH and OH radical, nitric oxide, and inhibition of lipid peroxidation) and anticholinesterase activity of chemically characterized and quantified ethanol extracts of ten St. John's wort samples. The investigated samples were: five Hypericum perforatum species repr...

Hypericum perforatum is a medicinal plant which has been known in traditional medicine as an antiinflammatory and healing agent. Nowadays the use of Hypericum extracts is concerned mainly with antidepressive applications. In the present work, HPLC – RPC18 column chromatography with photodiode array detection was applied for the determination of the derivatives of cinnamic and benzoic acid (e.g....

We report a case of liver damage in an elderly patient after the use of herbal products of Hypericum perforatum and copaiba (Copaifera langsdorffii Desf). Hepatotoxicity related to Hypericum perforatum is anecdotally known, but for copaiba, widely used as anti-inflammatory, there is just experimental data in the national literature. This report aimed to draw attention to the possible toxic effe...