17 research outputs found
Biodiversity and Ethnobotanical Uses of Medicinal Plants from the Northern Black Sea Coastal Wetlands /// Биоразнообразие и приложение на лекарствените растения от Северно-Черноморските влажни зони в етноботаниката
No full textBiodiversity studies on the medicinal plants in any given country is the first important step in carrying out resource-saving research on the conservation and rational use of this resource. Alongside this, it is the basis of ethnobotanical studies to document and safeguard knowledge on medicinal plants and the nexus to the customs and culture of local communities. Subject of study are the Northern Black Sea Coastal Wetlands areas: the Durankulak Lake protected area, Shabla-Ezeretz Lake Complex protected area and the Kamchia nature complex. They are an important moulding factor contributing to the existence of a rich and varied flora including a wide variety of medicinal plants which have not yet been fully explored. Our objectives have been defined in view of the conservation and rational use of this biological resource: to study the biodiversity of medicinal plants of the Northern Black Sea Coastal Wetlands, their taxonomic, phytogeographical and ecological structure, conservation status; to create database of the groups of plants according to their healing activity and usable parts; to conduct an ethnobotanical study of the current state of traditional knowledge of medicinal plants and their uses by the local population.Проучването на биологичното разнообразие на лечебните растения от една страна е първата важна стъпка при провеждането на ресурсологични изследвания във връзка с опазването и разумното използване на този ресурс, а от друга страна е основа на етноботанически проучвания с цел документиране и съхраняване на знанията за лечебните растения и връзката им с бита на местните общности. Обект на проведеното изследване са Северните влажни Черноморски зони: Защитена местност "Дуранкулашко езеро", Защитена местност "Шабленско - Езерецки езерен комплекс" и Природен комплекс "Камчия". Те са важен формообразувателен фактор, който обуславя съществуването на богата и разнообразна флора включваща голямо разнообразие от лечебни растения, които все още не са детайлно проучени. С оглед опазването и разумното използване на този ресурс ние си поставихме за цел да проучим биологичното разнообразие на лечебните растения на Северните Черноморски влажни зони, тяхната таксономична, фитогеографска и екологична структура, консервационен статут и ендемизъм, да създадем база данни с информация за групите заболявания, които повлияват, лечебно действие и използваеми части, както и да проведем етноботанично проучване на актуалното състояние на народното познание за билките и тяхната употреба от местното население живеещо в района
Ethnobotanical study of the impact of certain demographic indicators on the attitudes towards the use of medicinal plants among local population of the north Black Sea coast
No full textEthnobotanical study of the attitudes towards herbal remedies and conventional medicines among local population of the north Black Sea coast
No full textStudy of the current status of traditional knowledge about herbs and their use among the population of THE Northern Bulgarian Black sea coast
No full textRecent ethnobotanical studies in different parts of the world indicate a trend of gradual reduction of the folk knowledge about herbs and their use. The aim of our study was to examine the current state of that knowledge and the attitude to traditional methods of treatment among the population of the Northern Bulgarian Black sea coast. The study was carried out in different cities and villages from April to June 2015 using the interview technique face to face. Respondents were men and women of different social status and of different age groups, randomly selected.Descriptive statistical procedures and χ2 test were used for the analysis of results. The impact of demographic characteristics on the attitudes of respondents to the herbs and their use was examined by the correlation coefficient of Pearson.Positive attitude to herbs and their uses were established for 96.85% of respondents, and only 4.32% were indifferent. Among the demographic characteristics only age and gender were ones that affected the answers. The highest percentage of negative responses to the question „What is your attitude to herbal preparations compared to those of conventional medicine,“ was given by people from younger age categories, which outlined the trend of reduced interest to herbs and herbalism among the younger generation. The majority of respondents - 76.68% preferred combined therapy with herbs and synthetic drugs. Relatively large was the share of those who replied entirely on herba treatment - 29.19%. The results indicated consistent positive attitude of the local population of Northern Bulgarian Black sea coast to medicinal plants and to the traditional methods of treatment. Along with this the impact of modernization of the society on the use of herbs is proven
Biodiversity of Medicinal Plants from the Northern Black Sea Coastal Wetlands Part 2 - Durankulak Lake Protected Area
Full text linkThe present study aims to supplement the available research data on medicinal plants of the Durankulak Lake area. Survey results established a significant variety of medicinal plants: 112 species of higher plants referring to 34 families and 87 genera. The prevailing biological type is the herbaceous perennial type (67 species or 60 percent). Considering moisture and humidity as a factor, the mesophyte plants (presented by 48 species or 43%) occupy dominant position among the medicinal plants. Eurasian geo-elements (20 species or 18%) are predominant, followed by the Euro-Mediterranean (18 species or 16%), sub-Mediterranean (17 species or 15%). Among the medicinal plants there is only one Balkan endemic species. Medicinal plants of conservation significance represent 11.4% or 13 species. The established medicinal plants have more than 30 types of healing action, one fifth of which is used primarily for the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases. The species in which the above ground part (herba) is collected for plant substance constitute half of the established medicinal plants
Prognostic markers in quadruple negative breast cancer
Full text linkQuadruple-negative breast cancer (QNBC) presents with negative expression of estrogen, progesterone, and androgen receptors and of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2. This BC subtype has the worst prognosis. In QNBC, there is a greater paucity of prognostic biomarkers than in androgen receptors-positive triple negative BC (TNBC). Absent androgen receptor expression confers a more aggressive QNBC course and correlates with the expression of cancer stem cell phenotype, COX-2, and basal markers such as CK5 and nestin. Basal-like phenotype is significantly associated with adverse prognostic markers including high KI-67, COX-2 expression, and cancer stem cell phenotype. Engrailed-1 expression is associated with unfavorable overall survival in QNBC patients. Non-coding ribonucleic acids play a significant role in BC tumourigenesis by virtue of their oncogenic and tumour-suppressive properties. The identification of QNBC-specific circulating microribonucleic acids may improve tumour detection and prognosis. There is an obvious necessity to intensify the problem-oriented interdisciplinary research on the hot topic of prognostic biomarkers of QNBC
Biodiversity and healing activities of medicinal plants in the area of Kamchia Nature Complex
Full text linkIntroduction:Kamchia Nature Complex is part of the wetlands of importance in Bulgaria and has a global significance for preserving Europe's unique freshwater swamp forests also known as flooded (floodplain) forests (Bulgarian, Turkish: longoz).Aim:The study aims to bring up to date the list of medicinal plants in the area of Kamchia Nature Complex and to create a present-day database of their ecological and biological characteristics, floral elements, conservation significance and status. In addition, this study is designed to collect data available on the healing properties, usable parts, and the groups of diseases these medicinal plants are applicable for.Materials and Methods:Field surveys were conducted during the 2013–2015 vegetation seasons applying enroute survey methods.Floristic analysis was performed by the Tolmachev's method (1974).Species were determined by “Flora of the Republic of Bulgaria” and “Identification. Guide to Higher Plants in Bulgaria”.Results and Discussion:We have identified 183 species of medicinal plants out of 435 species of higher plants. The established medicinal plants refer to 60 families and 150 genera. The prevailing biology type is the herbaceous perennial plants—102 species (56%). The mesophyte plants occupy dominant position in terms of moisture and humidity as a factor—91 species (50%).Floristic analysis reveals Eurasian geo-elements as being predominant—34 (19%), with 60 (33%) species of different types of Mediterranean distribution.Species of conservation significance represent 20% of medicinal plants.The established medicinal plants have more than 30 species of healing activities, one third of which is used primarily for treatment of gastrointestinal and respiratory diseases. Species in which the above ground portion of the plant is collected for its plant substance constitute half of the established medicinal plants.Conclusion:Survey results reveal a considerable variety of medicinal plants in Kamchia Natural Complex area. Тhey feature a variety of healing properties and are applicable for a wide range of diseases
Ethnobotanical survey of the attitudes to herbal preparations and those to conventional medicine
No full textCurrently ethnobotanical studies in Bulgaria are conducted only in some regions. The aim of our study was to examine the influence of age on the attitude of the local population of the Northern Black Sea coast to herbal preparations compared to those of conventional medicine.The study was carried out in different cities and villages from April to June, 2015 using the interview tech-nique face to face. Respondents were men and women of different age groups, randomly selected. Descriptive statistical procedures and χ2 test were used for the analysis of the results. The impact of age on the attitude of respondents was examined by the correlation coefficient of Pearson.Maximal positive attitude was established for 33.51% of respondents. The responses with negative attitude were only 0.54%. Among the demographic characteristics only age was established to affect moderately the answers. The share of the respondents with a maximal mark within the age of over 41 years was distinctly higher compared with the responders under 40. The negative attitude results (mark 0) were variable. The highest values were established in the age groups 41-50 and over 70. It is obvious that adults over 41 years have definitely a positive attitude, while the attitude of the younger generation varies on a scale from 0 to 10.There is a stable positive attitude to treatment with herbal preparations among the local population of the Northern Black Sea coast regardless of age
Which are the most popular medicinal plants in the area of the north Black Sea coast?
Full text linkНастоящето изследване е част от по-широко етноботанично проучване проведено в района на Северното Черноморие през периода април - юни 2015 година, чрез техниката интервю лице в лице. Анкетирани бяха 185 души избрани на случаен принцип.Целта на настоящото проучване бе да разберем кои билки са най-популярните и да съберем данни за местните имена, използваема част и етноботанична употреба, като определим кои са „Билките на Баба` - най-популярните билки, за които информацията се предава основно словесно.От споменатите в анкетата 103 растителни вида принадлежащи към 54 семейства, 83 вида са български и 20 вида са чужди растения, като за 79 вида български растения са попълнени данните посочени в анкетата.На база посочените данни е установено наличие на стабилно познание за билките и тяхната етноботанична употреба сред местното население на Северното Черноморие. Най-популярни се оказаха 26 български растения и те съответно бяха определени като „Билките на Баба`.This study is part of a broader ethnobotanical research conducted in the area of the North Black Sea Coast in the period April - June 2015, using face-toface interviews technique. The respondents were 185 randomly selected local people.The aim of this study was to determine the most popular herbs, along with data collection of their respective common names, useful plant parts and ethnobotanical uses. In addition to the above, we aimed to ascertain the so called Grandma`s herbs - the most popular herbs the knowledge for which is based on the oral tradition of verbal transmission, i.e. by word of mouth through successive generations.Out of 103 plant species belonging to 54 families included in the survey, 83 species were native to Bulgaria, and 20 species - foreign plants. The survey data was completed for 79 plant species endemic to Bulgaria.Sound knowledge of herbs and their ethnobotanical use among local population of the North Black Sea Coast was determined based on the research data. Top 26 most popular Bulgarian medicinal plants were respectively defined as Grandma`s herbs
In Silico Evaluation of Terpene Interactions with Inflammatory Enzymes: A Blind Docking Study Targeting Arachidonic Acid Metabolism
No full textTerpenes represent a structurally diverse class of natural compounds with increasing scientific interest due to their potential anti-inflammatory properties. This study investigates the in silico binding behavior of six plant-derived terpenes—α-pinene, β-pinene, menthol, camphor, limonene, and linalool—against four key enzymes in the arachidonic acid (AA) metabolic pathway: cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), 5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX), and phospholipase A2 (PLA2). AA serves as a reference for binding energy comparison. Blind rigid-body molecular docking is performed using AutoDock 4.2 and the Lamarckian Genetic Algorithm, with 100 runs per ligand–enzyme pair and the energy-based selection of optimal poses. The analysis includes binding energy (ΔG), inhibition constants (Ki), root-mean-square deviation (RMSD), and residue-level interactions. Several terpenes exhibit favorable binding energies and inhibition constants across the evaluated enzymes. For COX-1 and COX-2, menthol and camphor show low Ki values, indicating stable binding. Menthol and limonene also show the strongest affinities for PLA2, exceeding AA. The focus is on compounds with potential to modulate arachidonic acid metabolism. In this context, β-pinene engages the catalytic site of PLA2, linalool forms multiple contacts within key regions of 5-LOX, and menthol, α-pinene, and β-pinene align with functionally important regions in both COX isoforms. These targeted interactions suggest that the highlighted compounds may selectively interfere with enzymatic activity in inflammation-related pathways. By modulating key steps in AA metabolism, these terpenes may influence the biosynthesis of pro-inflammatory mediators, offering a promising avenue for the development of safer, plant-derived anti-inflammatory agents. The findings lay the groundwork for further experimental validation and the structure-based optimization of terpene-derived modulators
