Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a severe neurodegenerative disorder characterized by β-amyloid (Aβ) plaques, neurofibrillary tangles, neuronal death, progressive cognitive impairment and memory loss. β-amyloid peptides (Aβ) are major compositions of so-called senile plaques, which are hallmarks of AD and contribute to AD progression. Therefore, it is important to discover therapeutics against Aβ-in...

Ankaferd Blood Stopper (ABS), a unique traditional herbal mixture, has been used topically to stop bleeding for centuries in Anatolia. ABS is a standardized mixture of the plants Thymus vulgaris, Glycyrrhiza glabra, Vitis vinifera, Alpinia officinarum, and Urtica dioica. Through its effects on the endothelium, blood cells, angiogenesis, cellular proliferation, vascular dynamics, and cell mediat...

In the present study, the terminal-restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) technique, combined with the use of a clone library, was applied to assess the baseline diversity of fungal endophyte communities associated with rhizomes of Alpinia officinarum Hance, a medicinal plant with a long history of use. A total of 46 distinct T-RFLP fragment peaks were detected using HhaI or MspI mon...

The pancreatic lipase inhibitory activity of the rhizome of Alpinia officinarum (AO) and its antihyperlipidemic activity were measured. When the water extract of AO was fractionated stepwise with organic solvents, the ethyl acetate fraction exhibited the most potent inhibition. 3-Methylethergalangin was isolated from that fraction as an inhibitor of pancreatic lipase with an IC(50) value of 1.3...