Dipartimento di Scienza e Tecnologia del Farmaco, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
J Clin Pharm Ther. 2010 Feb;35(1):11-48. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2710.2009.01096.x.
The aim of this review is to evaluate and summarize the available scientific information on the commonest plant extracts marketed in Western countries. In view of the intense, ongoing search for new plant extracts with powerful anti-inflammatory activity, we paid particular attention to this topic. The aim is to provide broad coverage of as many potentially useful plants as possible and then to focus on those with the greatest therapeutic potential.
Our bibliographic sources were the SciFinder databases: CAPLUS, MEDLINE, REGISTRY, CASREACT, CHEMLIST, CHEMCATS (update to October 2007). In order to assess the value of clinical trials, we focused a specific search on clinical investigations concerning nine plants with the most trial data, viz., Althaea officinalis, Calendula officinalis, Centella asiatica, Echinacea purpurea, Passiflora incarnata, Punica granatum, Vaccinium macrocarpon, Vaccinium myrtillus, Valeriana officinalis. This was carried out in several databases (update to June 2008): ISI Web of Knowledge(SM) (ISI WoK), SciFinder (CAPLUS, MEDLINE, REGISTRY, CASREACT, CHEMLIST, CHEMCATS) and PubMed (indexed for MEDLINE).
Our survey covers roughly a 1000 plants, although clinical trials have been published only for 156 plants supporting specific pharmacological activities and therapeutic applications. However, for about half of the plants, in vitro and in vivo studies provide some support for therapeutic use. For one-fifth of the plants included in our search, only phytochemical studies were found. Their properties and indications were often attributed to the presence of certain compounds, but no evidence concerning the activities of the whole extracts was presented. We found that for about 12% of the plants, currently available on the Western market, no substantial studies on their properties had been published, while there was strong evidence that 1 in 200 were toxic or allergenic, so that their use ought to be discouraged or forbidden. Nine plants had considerable evidence of therapeutic effect, viz., A. officinalis, Calendula officinalis, Centella asiatica, E. purpurea, Passiflora incarnata, Punica granatum, Vaccinium macrocarpon, Vaccinium myrtillus, Valeriana officinalis.
The present review provides a baseline on the level of evidence available on many herbal preparations and should be of help to those intending to research further on these topics.
本综述的目的是评估和总结在西方国家销售的最常见植物提取物的现有科学信息。鉴于对具有强大抗炎活性的新植物提取物的强烈持续搜索，我们特别关注了这个主题。目的是尽可能广泛地涵盖许多潜在有用的植物，并集中关注那些具有最大治疗潜力的植物。
我们的文献来源是 SciFinder 数据库：CAPLUS、MEDLINE、REGISTRY、CASREACT、CHEMLIST、CHEMCATS（更新至 2007 年 10 月）。为了评估临床试验的价值，我们专门针对有临床试验数据的 9 种植物进行了特定搜索，即 Althaea officinalis、Calendula officinalis、Centella asiatica、Echinacea purpurea、Passiflora incarnata、Punica granatum、Vaccinium macrocarpon、Vaccinium myrtillus、Valeriana officinalis。这是在几个数据库中进行的（更新至 2008 年 6 月）：ISI Web of Knowledge(SM)（ISI WoK）、SciFinder（CAPLUS、MEDLINE、REGISTRY、CASREACT、CHEMLIST、CHEMCATS）和 PubMed（MEDLINE 索引）。
我们的调查涵盖了大约 1000 种植物，尽管只有 156 种植物的临床试验已发表，支持特定的药理学活性和治疗应用。然而，对于大约一半的植物，体外和体内研究为治疗用途提供了一些支持。对于我们搜索中包含的植物的五分之一，只发现了植物化学研究。它们的特性和适应症通常归因于某些化合物的存在，但没有提出关于整个提取物活性的证据。我们发现，对于大约 12%的目前在西方市场上可获得的植物，没有关于其特性的大量研究发表，而有强有力的证据表明，每 200 种植物中就有 1 种是有毒或致敏的，因此应劝阻或禁止使用它们。有 9 种植物具有相当大的治疗效果，即 A. officinalis、Calendula officinalis、Centella asiatica、E. purpurea、Passiflora incarnata、Punica granatum、Vaccinium macrocarpon、Vaccinium myrtillus、Valeriana officinalis。
本综述提供了许多草药制剂现有证据水平的基线，应该有助于那些打算进一步研究这些主题的人。
