Biomedical subjects

B Weniger

Publications and source records attributed to B Weniger.

23 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed1986

[Traditional medicine in the Central Plateau of Haiti. 1. Study of the traditional therapeutic system in a rural socio-cultural area].

An ethnomedical and ethnopharmacological research on the traditional use of plants to cure human diseases was carried out in the Thomonde area located in the Central Plateau of Haiti. The use of medicinal plants is widespread among the rural population and is often the first treatment utilized. An ethnomedical approach to the Haitian traditional therapeutic system and popular beliefs is made. The percentage home remedies used as first treatment against 38 diseases was determined by means of an investigation performed on a quantitative scale.

Cultural Characteristics↗

PubMed1986

[Traditional medicine in the Central Plateau of Haiti. 2. Ethnopharmacologic inventory].

An ethnomedical and ethnopharmacological research on the traditional use of plants to cure human diseases was carried out in the Thomonde area located in the Central Plateau of Haïti. Part 1 of this publication was an ethnomedical study of the traditional folk therapy system. In this second part, we list 161 local plants, distributed in 64 botanical families, currently used for treating 38 common diseases. These 161 species were collected and identified. Their latin names, local names, local medicinal uses, the used part of the plant and the form of remedy are described.

Demography↗

PubMed1982

Plants of Haiti used as antifertility agents.

Haitian empirical medicine sprang from both European (16th to 19th century) and African (especially voodoo) traditional therapies. The use of medicinal herbs is highly developed. Our purpose was to list the plants held to be antifertility agents in the island. We identified about twenty species more or less currently used by the women as abortifacients or emmenagogues. The chemistry and active components of a few species are well-known. However, for most of them, some were partially studied, and no relation could be established between their chemical composition and their potential activities, and the rest are chemically unknown. We chemically screened extracts of Casearia ilicifolia, Eleutherine bulbosa, Rhoeo spathacea and Stemodia durantifolia, and identified flavonoids, triterpenes and sterols in the leaves of C. ilicifolia, and naphthoquinones, and a new anthraquinone, anthracene-9,10-dione-1,5-diol-4-methoxy-3-methyl-2-carboxylic acid methyl ester, in the bulbs of E, bulbosa. R. spathacea showed a stimulative activity on mouse uterus. Antifertility screening tests of C. ilicifolia and E. bulbosa showed activity in rats, but also probably toxicity.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Quantitative determination of naphthoquinones of Impatiens species.

A convenient and reliable reversed phase-HPLC method has been developed and validated for the quantitative determination of naphthoquinones present in the aerial parts of Impatiens glandulifera (Balsaminaceae) during two growing seasons (May to August 1998 and June to October 1999). Maximal content (0.8-1.1%) of 2-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone and its 2-methylated derivative was observed in flowers collected between July and August. The procedure was applied to compare the pigment content in three other species of Impatiens but showed 2.5-37 times lower levels than those found in I. glandulifera.

Balsaminaceae↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Improved procedure for the quality control of Hypericum perforatum L.

A new, fast and reliable procedure for the quantification of the major compounds of Hypericum perforatum L. has been developed. Four naphthodianthrones (protopseudohypericin, pseudohypericin, protohypericin, hypericin) and two phloroglucinols (hyperforin, adhyperforin) were assayed by HPLC using a short (17 min) linear gradient, with hypericin and hyperforin as external standards. Extraction of dried plant material with methanol in the dark at room temperature for 2 h led to a complete recovery of phloroglucinols but only a partial recovery of the naphthodianthrone derivatives. Treatment of plant material with water:ethanol (40:60, v/v) in a water bath shaker at 80 degrees C led to the total extraction of hypericins, but a 10% loss of total hyperforins was also observed. The two extraction methods, applied successively to the same sample, allowed the complete extraction of all compounds of interest. A 5 min exposure of the crude extract of H. perforatum to sunlight (1 E/m2) induced a 96% loss of hyperforins, whereas the dry plant material lost only 20% of hyperforins after 2 h exposure to sunlight (24 E/m2).

Anthracenes↗