Chapters authored
Some Mexican Plants Used in Traditional Medicine
In Mexico, there is an area known as semiarid region that is located in northern Mexico, and this region is rich in biodiversity (endemic flora and fauna). In the semiarid region of Mexico are more than 3500 species of plants that have been identified and used as natural alternatives to treat different ailments (digestive ailments, kidney problems, skin conditions, etc.). The use of plants for medicinal purposes was a common practice in Mexico before the arrival of the Spanish in the sixteenth century; although this knowledge was underestimated for a long time, now interest has reemerged in the use of plants as alternative remedies or traditional medicine. It is now known that the medicinal plant capacity is due to its biological properties, which are due to chemical compounds that are synthesized by the plant metabolisms, called phytochemicals. Phytochemicals are bioactive compounds that have important biological properties such as anticancer property, antimicrobial, antiparasitic, antioxidant, and interest in the recovery of these compounds has grown in recent years, in order to find natural alternatives to synthetic drugs, which they are used for different chronic conditions such as cancer.
Part of the book: Aromatic and Medicinal Plants
Pharmacology Evaluation of Bioactive Compounds that Regulate Cervical Cancer Cells
Cancer has been a public health problem that has gained a lot of death. However, in spite of the advances in the diagnosis and treatment of cervical cancer, women follow the struggle versus this disease. Also, those patients suffer from limited efficacy and specificity, undesirable effects, drug resistance, and a high cost of treatments. Currently, several studies have demonstrated the efficiency of natural products, called bioactive compounds, against cervical cancer cell lines. Bioactive compounds, including polyphenols and phenolic acids or flavonoids, etc., have antioxidant and pro-oxidant properties. These compounds are efficacy and show high specificity because probably they act as anti-oxidant and pro-oxidant. The pro-oxidant activity obstructs growth factors related to different signalling pathways that trigger cancer. Although, usually this kind of compounds helps for dispatching the apoptosis in cervical cancer cell. The aim of this chapter is reviewing how bioactive compounds affect the signalling pathways.
Part of the book: Pharmacognosy