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Therapeutic Uses
Therapeutic uses 1  Used to treat respiratory problems, jaundice, diarrhea, boils, muscular stiffness and as a diuretic and an odontalgic
Description Pistacia lentiscus’ leaves are used to treat respiratory problems as bronchial troubles and coughs and to ameliorate jaundice (Said et al, 2002). The resin is used as an analgesic, a carminative, a diuretic, an expectorant, an odontalgic, and a stimulant. It is mixed with other substances and used as a temporary filling for carious teeth (Plants for a Future, 2002). Internally it is used in the treatment of diarrhea in children and externally it is applied to boils, ulcers, ringworm and muscular stiffness (Plants for a Future, 2002).
Reference
• Plants for a Future Homepage (20, October 2002). Retrieved June 10, 2005 from: http://www.scs.leeds.ac.uk/pfaf/
• Said, O., Khalil, K., Fulder, S., Azaizeh, H. (2002) Ethnopharmacological survey of medicinal herbs in Israel, the Golan Heights a
Therapeutic uses 2 1-Antioxidant activity and antiatherogenic activity 2-Antimicrobial activity 3-Hepatoprotective activity 4-Insecticidal activity 5-Anti-ulcer activity
Description • Antioxidant activity and antiatherogenic activity
Ljubuncic et al. (2005) selected eight plants used to treat liver disease, jaundice or diabetes, (which are conditions in which oxidative stress is prominent) and assessed their antioxidant potential by measuring their ability to suppress the extent of iron-induced lipid peroxidation in rat liver homogenates and their potential toxicity by evaluating their effects on mitochondrial respiration and cell membrane integrity in cultured PC12 and HepG2 cells. They found that all the extracts can suppress iron-induced lipid peroxidation and are not toxic. However, extracts prepared from Teucrium polium and Pistacia lentiscus proved to be the most effective in suppressing iron-induced lipid peroxidation. Dedoussis et al. (2004) investigated the molecular mechanisms through which total polar extract of the P. lentiscus resin inhibits oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL) cytotoxic effect on peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC). When culturing cells with oxLDL and the polar extract concurrently, an inhibition of both apoptosis and necrosis was observed. P. lentiscus extract restored the intracellular antioxidant glutathione levels (GSH) and downregulated CD36 mRNA expression (the oxLDL
receptor in macrophages that is suspected to play a pivotal role in atherosclerotic foam cell formation). These results provided strong evidence of the resin’s antiatherogenic effect.
• Antimicrobial activity
The antimicrobial activity of Pistacia lentiscus was investigated in vitro in several studies. Iauk et al. tested P. lentiscus extracts on 3 bacteria (Sarcina lutea, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli) and 4 fungi (Candida albicans, Candida parapsilosis, Torulopsis glabrata and Cryptococcus neoformans). Of the different plant extractions, decoctions showed the best antibacterial activity, but the activity against fungal cells turned out to be much more interesting. were shown to have high antidermatophytic activity. Indeed, in a study by Shtayeh and Abu Ghdeib (1998), the aqueous extracts (15 mg ml−1) of 22 plants used in folkloric medicine in Palestine were investigated for their antifungal activity and minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) against nine isolates of Microsporum canis, Trichophyton mentagrophytes and Trichophyton violaceum. P. lenticus extract was one of the most active extracts with (90–100% inhibition).
• Hepatoprotective activity
In a study by Janakat and Al-Merie in 2002, the hepatoprotective effect of the boiled and non-boiled aqueous extracts of Pistacia lentiscus , Phillyrea latifolia , and Nicotiana glauca , which are alleged to be effective in the treatment of jaundice in folk medicine, was evaluated in vivo using carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) intoxicated rats as an experimental model. Plant extracts were administrated orally at a dose of 4 ml/kg body weight, containing various amounts of solid matter. Aqueous extract of P. lentiscus (both boiled and non-boiled) showed marked antihepatotoxic activity against CCl4 by reducing the activity of alkaline phosphatase (ALP), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and the level of bilirubin.
• Insecticidal activity
The insecticidal activities of essential oil extracts from leaves and flowers of aromatic plants against fourth-instar larvae of the mosquito Culex pipiens molestus were determined by Traboulsi et al., (2002). Extracts of Myrtus communis L were found to be the most toxic, followed by those of Origanum syriacum L, Mentha microcorphylla Koch, and Pistacia lentiscus L with LC50 values of 16, 36, 39, and 70 mg litre-1, respectively. Over 20 major components were identified in extracts from each plant species. Eight pure components (1,8-cineole, menthone, linalool, terpineol, carvacrol, thymol, (1S)-(-)-alpha-pinene and (1R)-(+)-alpha-pinene) were tested against the larvae. Thymol, carvacrol, (1R)-(+)-alpha-pinene and (1S)-(-)-alpha-pinene were the most toxic (LC50 = 36-49 mg litre-1) – Alpha pinene being one of the major essential oils of Pistacia lentiscus.
• Anti-ulcer activity
The effect of mastic, a concrete resinous exudate obtained from the stem of the tree Pistacia lentiscus, has been studied on experimentally-induced gastric and duodenal ulcers in rats by Al-Said et al. in 1986. Mastic at an oral dose of 500 mg/kg produced a significant reduction in the intensity of gastric mucosal damage induced by pyloric ligation, aspirin, phenylbutazone, reserpine and restraint + cold stress. The results suggested that a mild anti-secretory and a localized adaptive cytoprotectant action may be responsible for its anti-ulcer activity. Moreover, in a study by Marone et al. (2001), mastic gum was tested against clinical isolates of Helicobacter pylori. The minimal bactericidal concentrations (MBCs) were obtained by a microdilution assay. Mastic gum killed 50% of the strains tested at a concentration of 125 microg/ml and 90% at a concentration of 500 microg/ml. The influence of sub-MBCs of mastic gum on the morphologies of H. pylori was evaluated by transmission electron microscopy. The P. lentiscus resin induced morphological abnormalities and cellular fragmentation in H. pylori cells.
Reference • Al-Said MS, Ageel AM, Parmar NS, Tariq M. (1986) Evaluation of mastic, a crude drug obtained from Pistacia lentiscus for gastric and duodenal anti-ulcer activity, Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 15(3), 271-8.
• Dedoussis, G, Kaliora, A, Psarras, S,
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