Epilobium parviflorum: 1: J Ethnopharmacol. 2006 Jan 3;103(1):71-5. Epub 2005 Aug 24. Related Articles, Links Studies on antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity of herbal remedies used in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostatitis. Steenkamp V, Gouws MC, Gulumian M, Elgorashi EE, van Staden J. Department of Urology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, South Africa. [email protected] Crude water and ethanolic extracts of five herbal remedies reported in the literature for traditional treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and/or prostatitis were investigated for their effect on hydroxyl scavenging activity, antibacterial activity and their ability to inhibit cyclooxygenase-1 and -2 (COX-1 and COX-2) catalysed prostaglandin biosynthesis. Both the water and ethanol extracts of Hypoxis hemerocallidea and Epilobium parviflorum inhibited the growth of Escherichia coli. All 10 extracts scavenged the hydroxyl radical but with various potencies (32-93%). Ethanolic extracts were the most active in inhibiting COX-1 catalysed prostaglandin biosynthesis. The ethanolic extract of Epilobium parviflorum showed inhibitory effects on both the COX-1 and -2 catalysed prostaglandin biosynthesis, inhibited growth of Escherichia coli and exerted antioxidant activity. Although these results support the traditional use of Epilobium parviflorum for treatment of prostatitis and BPH, further investigation is required, for this promising plant. : J Ethnopharmacol. 2004 Mar;91(1):13-20. Related Articles, Links Cytoprotection by Achyrocline satureioides (Lam) D.C. and some of its main flavonoids against oxidative stress. Arredondo MF, Blasina F, Echeverry C, Morquio A, Ferreira M, Abin-Carriquiry JA, Lafon L, Dajas F. Department of Neurochemistry, Instituto de Investigaciones Biologicas, Clemente Estable, Avda Italia 3318, CP 11600 Montevideo, Uruguay. Epidemiological studies indicate that dietary antioxidants can influence the incidence of neurodegenerative diseases. Among them flavonoids have been proposed to be effective cytoprotectors. Consequently, herbs with a high concentration of these compounds such as Achyrocline satureioides, Ginkgo biloba and Epilobium parviflorum are of special interest. In this context a comparative study of the cytoprotective capacity of infusions from the three plants against an oxidative insult was performed. Hence, the cytoprotective activity of each infusion against H2O2 injury to PC12 cells was tested and the antioxidant capacity was assessed by the ABTS*+ radical bleaching assay. Free and glycosylated flavonoids contained in the infusions were identified by HPLC and the cytoprotective effect of some of these individual flavonoids was tested. The analysis of the flavonoid content of the infusions revealed different profiles. Epilobium parviflorum infusion showed the highest antioxidant capacity but only Achyrocline satureioides infusion proved to be cytoprotective. Moreover, the free flavonoids quercetin and luteolin contained in this infusion were also cytoprotective. In conclusion, the free radical scavenger capacity did not correlate with the cytoprotective profile of the infusions. The special mixture of unglycosylated Achyrocline satureioides flavonoids could be a clue to explain the unique effect of this plant.