Native American Medicine Research Articles

Evaluation of the Therapeutic Potential of Traditionally-Used Natural Plant Extracts to Inhibit Proliferation of a HeLa Cell Cancer Line and Replication of Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus (hRSV).

Traditional approaches employing natural plant products to treat a wide array of ailments have been documented and described for thousands of years. However, there remains limited scientific study of the therapeutic potential or effectiveness of ethnobotanical applications. Increases in the incidence of cancer and emerging infectious diseases demonstrate a growing need for advances in the development of therapeutic options. In this study, we evaluate the therapeutic potential of aqueous extracts prepared from four plants, purple aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae (L.) Nemsom), common sage (Salvia lyrata (L.)), northern spicebush (Lindera benzoin (L.) Blume), and lamb's ear (Stachys byzantina (K.) Koch)) traditionally used in Native American medicine in Indiana, USA. Using a combination of cytotoxicity assays, immunofluorescence microscopy, and antiviral assays, we found that sage and spicebush extracts exhibit cytotoxic and antiproliferative effects on HeLa cell proliferation and that sage, spicebush, and aster extracts were capable of significantly inhibiting human respiratory syncytial virus (hRSV), a major respiratory pathogen of infants and the elderly. Chemical analysis of the four extracts identified four major compounds which were subsequently evaluated to identify the responsible constituents in the extracts. While none of the identified compounds were shown to induce significant impacts on HeLa cell proliferation, two of the compounds, (1S)-(-)-Borneol and 5-(hydroxymethyl)-furfural, identified in sage and spicebush, respectively, were shown to have antiviral activities. Our data suggest that several of the extracts tested exhibited either anti-proliferative or antiviral activity supporting future further analysis.

Essential Oil Composition of Grindelia squarrosa from Southern Idaho.

Grindelia squarrosa is an arid lands herb that has been used in Native American traditional medicine, is a potential source of pharmacologically active compounds, and has been explored as a source of biofuel. The purpose of this work was to examine the essential oil composition of G. squarrosa from southern Idaho. Gas chromatographic methods revealed the essential oil of G. squarrosa var. serrulata to be rich in monoterpenoids, α-pinene (21.9%), limonene (17.1%), terpinolene (10.6%), and borneol (6.5%). The essential oil composition of G. squarrosa from Idaho is similar to that previously reported from specimens collected from Montana and confirms the volatile phytochemistry of plants growing in North America. The major essential oil components were screened for antimicrobial activity against respiratory and dermal pathogens. (-)-β-Pinene showed strong antibacterial activity against Streptococcus pneumoniae (MIC 39.1 μg/mL) and (-)-borneol showed strong activity against Staphylococcus aureus (MIC 78.1 μg/mL).

Empire’s Colonization in American Plague Era: Colonial Medicine and Native American Medicine in Shaman

Empire’s Colonization in American Plague Era: Colonial Medicine and Native American Medicine in <i>Shaman</i>

Bryophytes Used in Folk Medicine: An Ethnobotanical Overview

Bryophytes are considered the oldest living plants of terrestrial habitats and the closest modern relatives of the ancestors of the earliest terrestrial plants. Bryophytes are found on all continents and occupy xeric to aquatic niches, with the greatest diversity and biomass in cool temperate regions. Despite the lesser popularity of these organisms, bryophytes have ethnopharmacological importance in different cultures of the world, especially in Chinese, Indian, and Native American medicine. Different bryophyte extracts and isolated compounds have shown anti-microbial, antiviral, and cytotoxic effects. The present overview aims to highlight the use of bryophytes for the treatment of common ailments in folk medicine around the world and to collect, analyze, and summarize the available literature on the pharmacological activity of the most used mosses and liverworts. Based on the literature review, 109 wild taxa of Bryophyta being used for ethnomedical purposes have been documented. Overall, 170 uses were recorded for the 109 taxa considered. Herbal remedies for skin and hair care are by far the most commonly reported (25.0%); antipyretic uses of bryophytes account for 12.2%, while taxa used as medicinal treatments for respiratory and gastro-intestinal systems amount to 12.1% and 9.9%, respectively.

KCNQ5 activation by tannins mediates vasorelaxant effects of barks used in Native American botanical medicine.

Tree and shrub barks have been used as folk medicine by numerous cultures across the globe for millennia, for a variety of indications, including as vasorelaxants and antispasmodics. Here, using electrophysiology and myography, we discovered that the KCNQ5 voltage-gated potassium channel mediates vascular smooth muscle relaxant effects of barks used in Native American folk medicine. Bark extracts (1%) from Birch, Cramp Bark, Slippery Elm, White Oak, Red Willow, White Willow, and Wild Cherry each strongly activated KCNQ5 expressed in Xenopus oocytes. Testing of a subset including both the most and the least efficacious extracts revealed that Red Willow, White Willow, and White Oak KCNQ-dependently relaxed rat mesenteric arteries; in contrast, Black Haw bark neither activated KCNQ5 nor induced vasorelaxation. Two compounds common to the active barks (gallic acid and tannic acid) had similarly potent and efficacious effects on both KCNQ5 activation and vascular relaxation, and this together with KCNQ5 modulation by other tannins provides a molecular basis for smooth muscle relaxation effects of Native American folk medicine bark extracts.

Chemical Composition and Terpenoid Enantiomeric Distribution of the Essential oil of Artemisia tridentata Subsp. tridentata From Southwestern Idaho

Big sagebrush ( Artemisia tridentata) is a common shrub growing in the cold intermountain regions of western North America. The plant is an important food source for herbivores and was used in Native American traditional medicine. In this work, the essential oils were obtained from 3 individuals of A tridentata subsp. tridentata growing in southwestern Idaho. The essential oils were analyzed by gas chromatographic methods including chiral gas chromatography. The major components in the essential oils were yomogi alcohol (5.8%-30.8%), santolina epoxide (1.7%-10.5%), camphor (5.2%-20.1%), and ( Z)-tagetone (0.9%-8.9%). ( + )-α-Pinene, ( + )-β-pinene, ( + )-verbenone, ( − )-( E)-β-caryophyllene, and ( − )-δ-cadinene were the only enantiomers observed for these compounds. Camphene and camphor, on the other hand, showed wide variability in enantiomeric distribution. The enantiomeric distributions in A tridentata subsp. tridentata differ widely compared to other Artemisia species. There are large variations in the chemical compositions in A tridentata, both between subspecies and within subspecies.

Rethinking the Native American medicine wheel garden: from an outdoor classroom to celebration and land acknowledgement

The Native American Medicine Wheel is a powerful tool to bring alive curricular connections from science and history to mathematics and civics as part of schoolyard gardening initiatives. As a living lab these gardens also serve as valuable tools to reinforce lessons on habitat enhancement. However, deeper lessons connected to the cultures of Native Americans and land acknowledgement are embedded throughout and serve as a progressive investment to campus greening initiatives that raise awareness to contemporary social issues.

Collaborating with(in) the Garden: Stewardship, Performance, and Thinking Beyond the Spatio-Temporal Formations of Institutional Legacies

What might it mean to conceptualize stewardship as a multi-species performance that contests the spatio-temporal boundaries of institutions? The proposed paper focuses on the Native American Medicine Garden (NAMG) on the University of Minnesota campus and the stewardship of Cânté Sütá (Oglala Lakota), paying specific attention to the role of plants in a distinctly Lakota-led initiative. I consider the NAMG as an undercommons, a generative site to challenge conformist settler logics governing land use (i.e., Morrill Act) and to envision not-yet thought modes of co-existence. I think from the garden to consider the relationship between stewardship and performance, arguing that the NAMG - as a pedagogical space of possibility - expands how and for whom coaltions are built. The NAMG sets the conditions for resistance by entities that likely would be identified as auxiliary or inert within settler-colonial notions of land-use, inviting non-native participants to approach the formation of plants not as an object of analysis, but as co-constituting philosophical thoughts and possibilities for existence.

Mayan and Andean Medicine and Urban Space in the Spanish Americas

Mayan and Andean medicine included empirical perspectives and botanical cures that were transmitted in the urban spaces of colonial Spanish America, spaces themselves built over former Amerindian cities. Mayan and Andean peoples, whose histories included development of both urban and rural aspects of civilization, brought their medical knowledge to the Hispanic cities of the colonial Americas. In these cities, despite the disapproval and persecution of the Inquisition, Native American medicine gradually became part of the dominant culture. As this article will demonstrate, Mayan and Andean medical knowledge was absorbed by the “new cities” that Imperial Spain constructed in the colonial Americas, church disapproval notwithstanding. Cities and urban space became prime conduits for the circulation and incorporation of Native American medical knowledge among the newer Hispanic and mestizo population in the colonial Americas.

Ethno Medicinal Plants Used for the Treatment of Common Diseases by the Deori Community People of Lakhimpur District, Assam

Herbal medicine is currently experiencing a revival in the world, along with other complementary therapies such as traditional Chinese Medicines, Osteopathy and Homeopathy. Many of the pharmaceuticals currently available to physicians have a long history of use as herbal remedies, including opium, aspirin, digitalis, and quinine. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 80% of the world's population presently uses herbal medicine for some aspect of primary health care. Herbal medicine is a major component in all traditional medicine systems, and a common element in Ayurvedic, homeopathic, naturopathic, traditional Chinese medicine, and Native American medicine. The district of Lakhimpur, Assam, situated at the far east corner of North East India is a region of rich biodiversity. Because of its location at the foothills of Arunachal Pradesh, an environment with heavy rainfall and high humidity, conducive for a significant floristic diversity prevails in this region. The native people of this region, the greater Assamese community, therefore depends to a large extent on the varied plant species for food and medicine besides other uses. An attempt has been made to explore and enumerate the potential ethno-medicinal plants used by the people of Lakhimpur district, Assam. The survey was conducted in some remote areas of the district occupied by Deori communities specially restricted to Narayanpur sub-division and a total of 58 medicinal plants comprising of 39 families were recorded. The ethonomedicobotanical exploration is carried out by concerning of the people who are related with making traditional medicine that orally prescribed. Different parts of these plants are used by the local inhabitants for the cure of some common ailments occurring in the areas. The data includes the list of such medicinal plants along with their local names, families, parts used, the method of treatment and the disease cured.

Unsettling Existence

This article addresses land acknowledgement in contemporary Indigenous performance to illustrate how the invocation of Lakota cultural knowledge animates the contradictions of existence. The Native American Medicine Garden (NAMG) on the University of Minnesota campus, and Cânté Sütá-Francis Bettelyoun's (Lakota Oglala) pedagogy, informs the overarching conundrum with the ontological turn in academia, that is - how to ally with non-extractive knowledges in a way that isn't extractive? Through participant-observation at the NAMG, drawn from 2016-2019, I identify how Bettelyoun invokes Lakota cultural knowledge to set the conditions for participation by bringing attention to settler-colonial relations with the environment, and illuminate alternative modes of human-environment interactions. I ask how NAMG, surrounded by genetically modified organism (GMO) testing fields on a research university, unsettles logics of existence by applying pressure to the ‘agrilogistic' promise to ‘eliminate fear, anxiety, and contradiction… by reducing existence to sheer quantity’ (Morton). I approach this inquiry by thinking from the political and philosophical horizons made possible by Cânté Sütá-Francis Bettelyoun (Lakota Oglala) to consider how the Native American Medicine Garden functions as a performance paradigm. To illustrate the idea of thinking from the garden I outline how the conditions are set for participatory and tactile engagements with place, juxtaposing theory with ethnographic vignettes. I then turn to a discussion of relationality within the garden and the only ever partial connections scholars of settler ancestry have to Lakota cultural knowledge. As I respond to Morton's thoughts on mono-culture and noncontradiction, the inquiry will circle back to the initial acknowledgement - the land on which I live, work, and study - to honour the Dakhóta and Anishinaabeg histories and contemporary actions allowing me - a settler of German and Polish ancestry - to be unsettled about where I stand.

Phytotherapeutic modalities for the management ofHelicobacter pyloriassociated peptic ulcer

Due to an imbalance between aggressive factors known as hydrochloric acid (HCl), pepsin, leukotrienes, refluxed bile, defensive factors and reactive oxygen species, the peptic ulcer is formed in the stomach and duodenum which mostly include the function of prostaglandins, mucus bicarbonate barrier, enzymatic antioxidants, and some growth factors. H. pylori infection remained one of the considerable causes of peptic ulcer as it caused hypochlorhydria and struck off the defense mechanism of the stomach. The nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and stress are the most prevailing causes of peptic ulcer disease. Lack of physical exercise, little rest and due to poor leisure cause the peptic ulcer disease. Candies, chocolate, coffee, cigarettes, stress, and alcohol are the cause of peptic ulceration and suppression of acid in the stomach due to the utilization of antacid medication. Most of the ancient medical practices in the traditional alternative medicinal system include Unani, Ayurveda, Siddha, Homeopathy, Naturopathy, Chinese customary medicine, African conventional medicine, and Native American medicine. Without a hostile effect, the rate of curing the disease is the significance of natural products research. Peptic ulcer disease is the widespread nature of peptic ulcer in all class of population, which mostly may be due to rapidly changing the food habits and stress, causing the imbalance between gastric offensive and defensive factors. Curcuma longa is the most effective plant for the cure of peptic ulcer. Curcuma longa has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity. Curcuma longa remarkably reduces the level of inflammatory mediator (IL1) and (TNF) which was increased during the formation of an ulcer. In the rhizome of Curcuma longa, yellow pigment is present and widely used for the treatment of ulcer and decrease the inflammatory response. Symptoms include abdominal pain after taking a meal, nausea, vomiting, Anorexia and lose weight.

American Civil War plant medicines inhibit growth, biofilm formation, and quorum sensing by multidrug-resistant bacteria

A shortage of conventional medicine during the American Civil War (1861–1865) spurred Confederate physicians to use preparations of native plants as medicines. In 1863, botanist Francis Porcher compiled a book of medicinal plants native to the southern United States, including plants used in Native American traditional medicine. In this study, we consulted Porcher’s book and collected samples from three species that were indicated for the formulation of antiseptics: Liriodendron tulipifera, Aralia spinosa, and Quercus alba. Extracts of these species were tested for the ability to inhibit growth in three species of multidrug-resistant pathogenic bacteria associated with wound infections: Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Acinetobacter baumannii. Extracts were also tested for biofilm and quorum sensing inhibition against S. aureus. Q. alba extracts inhibited growth in all three species of bacteria (IC50 64, 32, and 32 µg/mL, respectively), and inhibited biofilm formation (IC50 1 µg/mL) in S. aureus. L. tulipifera extracts inhibited biofilm formation (IC50 32 µg/mL) in S. aureus. A. spinosa extracts inhibited biofilm formation (IC50 2 µg/mL) and quorum sensing (IC50 8 µg/mL) in S. aureus. These results support that this selection of plants exhibited some antiseptic properties in the prevention and management of wound infections during the conflict.

Hepatoprotective effects of green Capsicum annum against ethanol induced oxidative stress, inflammation and apoptosis in rats

Ethnopharmacological relevanceCapsicum annum L. (CA) is used extensively as a spice and is a rich source of antioxidant vitamins. It has long been used in Indian, Native American, and Chinese traditional medicine as a carminative and an appetizer that normalizes liver function. However, its hepato-protective activity has so far not been studied. Aim of the studyThe present study was undertaken to evaluate the efficacy of aqueous extract of CA at two different doses (125 mg/kg body weight and 250 mg/kg body weight), against ethanol induced oxidative stress and apoptosis in liver tissue. Materials and methodsAdult male Wistar rats, weighing 150–200 g, were randomly grouped (n = 6) and treated with ethanol (2 g/kg bw, i.p.), CA125 (125 mg/kg bw, i.p.), CA250 (250 mg/kg bw, i.p.), ethanol with CA (similar doses), and control (0.5 ml normal saline, i.p.) for 30 days. Lipid peroxidation (LPO) and reduced glutathione content (GSH) in tissue homogenate, along with catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (Cu-Zn-SOD & Mn-SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione reductase (GR), glutathione-s-transferase (GST) and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G-6-P-D) activity were evaluated. Serum levels of alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), alkaline phosphate (ALP), triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (CHLS), high density lipoprotein (HDL), low density lipoprotein (LDL) very low density lipoprotein (VLDL), tumour necrotic factor alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin 6 (IL-6) were also measured using ELISA kits. Histopathological evaluation of the hepatic tissue was performed by hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and periodic acid-schiff (PAS) staining. TUNEL assay was performed for apoptosis detection. ResultsEthanol significantly (p < 0.001) increased ALT, AST, ALP, TNF-α, IL-6, LPO, Cu-Zn-SOD, GST, GPx, TG, CHLS, LDL, VLDL levels, along with significant (p < 0.001) decrease in HDL, Mn-SOD, CAT, GSH, GR and G6PD activity. Co-administration of CA along with ethanol alleviated changes in the above parameters (p < 0.001) in a dose-dependent manner and also reduced the number of apoptotic death cells. Histo-pathological and histo-chemical studies of liver sections also ascertained the outcomes of this study. ConclusionThus, it can be concluded that the aqueous extract of green CA can exert a protective effect against ethanol induced hepato-toxicity. The possible mechanism may be by acting as an antioxidant; preventing ethanol induced apoptosis and reducing pro-inflammatory cytokine levels.

Toxicity of Mid-Michigan plant extracts in the brine shrimp lethality assay and the effect of assay methodology on sensitivity

The Brine Shrimp Lethality Assay (BSLA) is a rapid and economical assay that has been used to screen plant extracts for potential anti-tumor compounds. The objective of this study was to screen Mid-Michigan plant extracts for activity in the BSLA to identify candidates for further pharmacological study. Based on the knowledge that many plants found in the region have been used in Native American traditional medicine for a variety of conditions, including cancer, we hypothesized that some plants would demonstrate activity in the BSLA. In addition, we aimed to determine any difference in sensitivity between the traditional test tube format and the more recently developed microwell format of the assay. After a preliminary screening of 38 plant extracts, eight extracts were active in the BSLA, including Achillea millefolium, Nepeta cataria, and Podophyllum peltatum. Both A. millefolium and N. cataria have been used as cold remedies in Native American traditional medicine, while P. peltatum derivatives etoposide and teniposide are current anti-tumor drugs. We also demonstrated that the sensitivity of the assay is dependent on the assay format. Percent lethality was higher in the 96-well plate format when compared to the 5 mL glass test tube format. These results suggest that several plants from the Mid-Michigan region may be worthy of further investigation to characterize their biological activity as it relates to potential anti-cancer properties. Furthermore, we suggest that researchers use the 96-well BSLA format to increase sensitivity and inter-laboratory consistency of the assay.

Chemical composition and anti-herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) activity of extracts from Cornus canadensis

BackgroundMany plants of boreal forest of Quebec have been used by Native Americans to treat a variety of microbial infections. However, the antiviral activities of these plants have been seldom evaluated on cellular models to validate their in vitro efficiencies. In this study, Cornus canadensis L. (Cornaceae), a plant used in Native American traditional medicine to treat possible antiviral infections, has been selected for further examination.MethodsThe plant was extracted by decoction and infusion with water, water/ethanol 1:1 and ethanol to obtain extracts similar to those used by Native Americans. The effects of the extracts were tested on herpes simplex virus type-1 (HSV-1) using a plaque reduction assay. Moreover, bioassay-guided fractionation was achieved to isolate bioactive compounds.ResultsWater/ethanol 1:1 infusion of C. canadensis leaves were the most active extracts to inhibit virus absorption with EC50 of about 9 μg mL−1, whereas for direct mode, both extraction methods using water or water/ethanol 1:1 as solvent were relatively similar with EC50 ranging from 11 to 17 μg mL−1. The fractionation led to the identification of active fractions containing hydrolysable tannins. Tellimagrandin I was found the most active compound with an EC50 of 2.6 μM for the direct mode and 5.0 μM for the absorption mode.ConclusionAltogether, the results presented in this work support the antiviral activity of Cornus canadensis used in Native American traditional medicine.

Shamanic Vision Quest: Native American Ritual, Depth Psychology, and Renaissance Natural Magic

This paper portrays the shamanic vision quest through dreamtime cosmologies, common to the disciplines of Native American ritual, depth psychology, and Renaissance natural magic. The subject matter of Native American ritual is my practice, of depth psychology is C.G. Jung’s The Red Book, and of Renaissance natural magic is Jacques Lefevre d’Etaples’ De magia naturali. Whether through Native American medicine wheel or medieval geocentric cosmology, these disciplines are grounded in the physics of gravity: the most mundane law governing life on earth, yet perhaps also the most obscure law at play in quantum physics. Physics has recently observed what may be a graviton, a particle that incriminates the weak and lowly law of gravity as the kingpin of all the laws of physics. Gravitational waves also have been measured during the writing of this paper. Graviton: the immovable mover; the non-localized singularity or center of everywhere, but whose circumference is nowhere. Shamanic archetypes, like these medicine wheels or black hole ouroboros, may be experienced via neurologic spindle cells. Images of original nature photography and paintings embody ideas intended to draw the reader into their own shamanic vision of the dreamtime medicine wheel, whose center is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere. The shaman’s solitary journey, back into the dreamtime of the dark mother, anima mundi or world soul—whether under the hypnagogic spell of an animal spirit guide, Philemon, or Hermes Mercurius Trismegistus—leads from the fiery event horizon of a black hole, to its central graviton singularity, to the dark matter that creates and consumes them. That is the paradox of human existence: only when we become conscious of the unconscious abyss can we live rooted to our singular nature, and from that individuation begin to experience divine love for our shared cosmos. This paper elicits that existential Unity.

Prevalence of antimicrobial fungal metabolites in Hydrastis canadensis crude extracts

Goldenseal (Hydrastis Canadensis L. Ranunculaceae) is a plant used in Native American traditional medicine to treat infection. This plant has been shown by our laboratory to harbor endophytic fungi that produce antimicrobial secondary metabolites. The aim of this study was to determine whether antimicrobial fungal metabolites could be detected in the crude extracts of H. canadensis. A series of extracts were prepared in methanol and subjected to liquid-liquid partitioning to remove fats and sugars. A second extraction technique, using aqueous ethanol, was also employed to improve relevance of this study to the botanical dietary supplements industry. Investigations to identify fungal metabolites from these extracts using ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled to high resolution mass spectrometry are ongoing.

Joseph D. Calabrese A Different Medicine: Postcolonial Healing in the Native American ChurchA Different Medicine: Postcolonial Healing in the Native American Church. By Joseph D. Calabrese. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013. Pp. 256. $29.95 (paper).

<i>Joseph D. Calabrese</i> A Different Medicine: Postcolonial Healing in the Native American Church<i>A Different Medicine: Postcolonial Healing in the Native American Church</i>. By Joseph D. Calabrese. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013. Pp. 256. $29.95 (paper).

Dandelion Extracts Protect Human Skin Fibroblasts from UVB Damage and Cellular Senescence.

Ultraviolet (UV) irradiation causes damage in skin by generating excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) and induction of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), leading to skin photoageing. Dandelion extracts have long been used for traditional Chinese medicine and native American medicine to treat cancers, hepatitis, and digestive diseases; however, less is known on the effects of dandelion extracts in skin photoageing. Here we found that dandelion leaf and flower extracts significantly protect UVB irradiation-inhibited cell viability when added before UVB irradiation or promptly after irradiation. Dandelion leaf and flower extracts inhibited UVB irradiation-stimulated MMP activity and ROS generation. Dandelion root extracts showed less action on protecting HDFs from UVB irradiation-induced MMP activity, ROS generation, and cell death. Furthermore, dandelion leaf and flower but not root extracts stimulated glutathione generation and glutathione reductase mRNA expression in the presence or absence of UVB irradiation. We also found that dandelion leaf and flower extracts help absorb UVB irradiation. In addition, dandelion extracts significantly protected HDFs from H2O2-induced cellular senescence. In conclusion, dandelion extracts especially leaf and flower extracts are potent protective agents against UVB damage and H2O2-induced cellular senescence in HDFs by suppressing ROS generation and MMP activities and helping UVB absorption.