When thinking about congruence, several synonyms come to mind: similarity, correspondence, equivalence, resemblance, analogy, comparison; certainly the antonym: (dissimilarity) does not. So let us compare two relevant, seemingly parallel ideas, concepts especially in the discipline of integrative and complementary medicine. In recent discussions, it proved useful to examine in some depth, what ...

Background: The research into bioactive natural products of medicinal plants has a long tradition, but ethnopharmacology as a well-defined field of research has a relatively short history, only dating back 50 years. Aims: With the fast development of this field and its global importance especially in the fast developing economies of Asia it is timely to assess the most influential articles (as ...

The genus Tinospora includes 34 species, in which several herbs were used as traditional medicines by indigenous groups throughout the tropical and subtropical parts of Asia, Africa, and Australia. The extensive literature survey revealed Tinospora species to be a group of important medicinal plants used for the ethnomedical treatment of colds, headaches, pharyngitis, fever, diarrhea, oral ulce...

The Ranunculaceae genus Anemone (order Ranunculales), comprising more than 150 species, mostly herbs, has long been used in folk medicine and worldwide ethnomedicine. Various medicinal compounds have been found in Anemone plants, especially triterpenoid saponins, some of which have shown anti-cancer activities. Some Anemone compounds and extracts display immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, ant...

sirs, Mitragyna speciosa Korth. (“kratom”, “biak”) is a Southeast Asian tree, the leaves of which provide several alkaloids of considerable interest and seemingly contradictory properties. In 1836, Low (Burkill, 19351 described the use of kratom by native Malayans as an opium substitute when opium itself was unavailable or unaffordable. Holmes (18951 identified kratom as M. speciosa and its use...

The era of blockbuster drugs is now ending, the pharmaceutical industry is not as innovative due to shortage of new lead structures. Ethnopharmacology and natural product drug discovery remains a significant hope in the current scenario. Ethno pharmacology provides a divergent approach involving indigenous knowledge with current technology for drug development using new approaches.Natural produ...

Ethnopharmacological field studies are indispensable for identifying plants that can be selected for their pharmacological effects and chemical composition. Although the subjective interpretation of results by the researcher is crucial, quantitative data analysis is a useful tool to identify the most promising pharmacological plants. It has been stated that such semi-quantitative information in...

1 Biology Department, Federal Rural University of Pernambuco, Rua DomManoel de Medeiros, Recife, PE, Brazil 2 Laboratory of Comparative Neuroimmunology, Department of Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA 3 Campus Cuité, Centro de Educação e Saúde (CES), Unidade de Educação (UAE), Curso de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Campina Grande (UFCG), ...