BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a Gram-negative, aerobic bacterium found in water and soil. It is a normal flora in skin and gastrointestinal tract of human beings. P. aeruginosa as an opportunistic pathogen involved in nosocomial infections having multiple pathogenic factors and shows high rate of resistance to different antibiotics. The aim of this study was to identify th...

Ferula asafoetida Linn. is a main source of asafoetida, a strong, tenacious and sulfurous odor, and oleo-gum resin of medicinal and nutritional importance. Asafoetida has been consumed as a spice and a folk medicine for centuries. Recent studies have shown several promising activities particularly relaxant, neuroprotective, memory enhancing, digestive enzyme, antioxidant, antispasmodic, hypoten...

Ferula gummosa Boiss is a good source of biologically active compounds such as monoterpene and sesquiterpene derivatives. There are also several reports on antioxidant effects of these compounds. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of daily administration of F. gummosa root hydro-alcoholic extract on serum oxidant-antioxidant status. Twenty four Wistar rats were randomly divided...

Seven new sesquiterpene lactone glycosides (1-7) were isolated from the H2O-soluble fraction from the MeOH extract of the roots of Ferula varia. Their structures were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic analyses. The absolute configurations of compounds 1 and 2 were determined by modified Mosher's method.

Effect of hexane extract of Ferula jaeschkeana has been studied on corpora lutea of adult cyclic guinea-pigs. Administration of extract showed duration dependent luteolytic changes in the corpora lutea. Its administration for first three days from the onset of estrus caused significant decrease in the diameter of corpora lutea in the ovary at day 10 of cycle. Ovarian wet weight, proteins and gl...

dormancy breaking and germination requirements were investigated in seeds of ferula ovina and ferula gummosa. seeds of rather species were collected from north and eastern-north rangelands of iran. seeds of each of the species were subjected to different treatments including various levels of ga3, chilling and combination of ga3 and chilling (ga-chilling). in contrast to treated seeds, non-trea...

Dormancy breaking and germination requirements were investigated in seeds of Ferula ovina and Ferula gummosa. Seeds of rather species were collected from north and eastern-north rangelands of Iran. Seeds of each of the species were subjected to different treatments including various levels of GA3, chilling and combination of GA3 and chilling (GA-chilling). In contrast to treated seeds, non-trea...

Neuroinflammation mediated by microglia cells plays a critical role in the development of Alzheimer's disease. To identify novel natural neuroinflammation inhibitors, a bioactivity-guided phytochemical research was performed on the traditional Chinese medicine "Awei", that exhibited a significant inhibitory effect on nitric oxide production in over-activated microglia cells. The research identi...

Methanolic extract of 15 Iranian medicinal plants were prepared and tested for their cytotoxic activities against three cancer cell lines (MCF7, HepG2, WEHI164) and one normal cell line (MDBK). Some plants showed cytotoxic activities. The extract of Ferula szowitsiana root, which proved to be the most active, was chosen for further phytochemical studies. The major compounds of the most potent a...