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ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Neuronal death is a central process in neurodegenerative diseases and represents a therapeutic challenge for their prevention and treatment. Scutellaria incarnata Vent. roots are used traditionally in Colombia for central nervous system conditions including those affecting cognitive functions, but their chemistry and neuroprotective action remain to be explored to understand the scientific basis for their medicinal uses. In this study, S. incarnata roots are investigated to assess whether they have neuroprotective effects that could provide some explanation for their traditional use in neurodegenerative diseases. AIM OF THE STUDY: To evaluate the neuroprotective effect of S. incarnata roots and its chemical constituents against C2-ceramide-induced cell death in Cath.-a-differentiated (CAD) cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS: S. incarnata root ethanol extract was fractionated and compounds were isolated by column chromatography; their structures were elucidated by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, mass spectrometry and infrared spectroscopy. The cytotoxic and neuroprotective effects against C2-ceramide of S. incarnata root extract, fractions and isolated compounds were assessed in CAD cells. RESULTS: S. incarnata root extract and its n-butanol fraction were not cytotoxic but showed neuroprotective effects against C2-ceramide toxicity in CAD cells. The phenylethanoid glycosides incarnatoside (isolated for the first time) and stachysoside C (12.5, 25 and 50 µg/mL) from S. incarnata roots also protected CAD cells against C2-ceramide without inducing cytotoxic effects. CONCLUSION: The observed neuroprotective effects of S. incarnata root extract and isolated phenylethanoid glycosides in CAD cells provide an ethnopharmacological basis for the traditional use of this species in Colombia for central nervous system disorders.

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Historically hot and cold theories have been essential for the constitution and practice of Latin American and Caribbean traditional health systems. Nonetheless, the scarcity and dispersion of the available information impedes the recognition of the relevance and intercultural applicability of these medicines, both in the clinical, academic, and political settings. For these reasons, the aim of this narrative review is to describe hot and cold theories in the conformation and clinical practice of Latin American and Caribbean medical systems. Hot and cold classifications apply to the traditional understanding of health, the body, its physiology, and disease, which therapeutic and preventive approaches are based on foods, habits, and medicinal plants of the opposite cold or hot category. There are recognizable similarities between hot and cold theories in Latin American and Caribbean medicines and in other medical cultures. The growing scientific research and evidence contributes to re-signify the clinical applicability of Latin American and Caribbean traditional medicines. Further research about hot and cold theories in Latin American and Caribbean medicines is strongly recommended, to optimize its integration with biomedicine in an equitable intercultural context.

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Enset (Ensete ventricosum) is a major starch staple and food security crop for 20 million people. Despite substantial diversity in morphology, genetics, agronomy and utilization across its range, nutritional characteristics have only been reported in relatively few landraces. Here, we survey nutritional composition in 22 landraces from three enset growing regions. We present mineral characterization of enset corm tissue, free amino acid characterization of raw and processed (fermented) tissues and genomic analysis of the microbial community associated with fermentation. We show that compared to regionally important tubers and cereals, enset is high in calcium, iron, potassium and zinc and low in sodium. We report changes in free amino acid composition due to processing, and establish that the bacteria genera Acetobacter, Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, predominate during fermentation. Nutritional and microbial variation presents opportunities to select for improved composition, quality and safety with potentially significant impacts in food security and public health.

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Cognitive decline can occur with normal ageing and in age-related brain disorders, such as mild cognitive impairment and dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, with limited pharmacological therapies available. Other approaches to reduce cognitive decline are urgently needed, and so, the role of dietary interventions or nutraceuticals has received much attention in this respect. In this review, we examine the evidence for dietary plants and their chemical constituents as nutraceuticals, relevant to both cognitive decline in normal ageing and in dementia. Pharmacological (in vitro and in vivo), clinical and epidemiological evidence is assessed for both frequently consumed plants and their dietary forms, including tea, coffee, cocoa (chocolate), red wine, grapes, citrus and other fruits; in addition to plants used less frequently in certain diets and those that cross the blurred boundaries between foods, nutraceuticals and medicinal plants. For the latter, turmeric, saffron, sage, rosemary and lemon balm are examples of those discussed. LINKED ARTICLES: This article is part of a themed section on The Pharmacology of Nutraceuticals. To view the other articles in this section visit http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.v177.6/issuetoc.

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BACKGROUND: Societies have selected their food for health, cultural, religious, political, economical, and environmental reasons. Most of the food included in Sikuani traditional diet still comes from wild natural resources and involves numerous species of fish, mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, insects, and plants. During certain periods of the Sikuani women's reproductive cycle, fish intake is avoided. The objective of this research is to study the conceptions underlying fish consumption regulations among Sikuani women at the Wacoyo Reservation, in Meta, Colombia. METHODS: We conducted a field study through interviews and participant observation with Sikuani Indigenous from the Wacoyo Reservation (Colombia). We inquired about the conceptions of fish consumption regulation by Sikuani women during the stages of the reproductive cycle. PCA (principal component analysis) was used to identify the most important characteristics of fish that are related to the avoidance of fish intake by Sikuani women during pregnancy. This study combines qualitative and quantitative analysis. RESULTS: It was found that during menarche and postpartum fish consumption is avoided by Sikuani women only before the ritual known as the prayer of the fish is performed. The menstruation does not imply significant regulations for fish intake, while during pregnancy there are multiple and specific avoidances for the consumption of fish. According to our results, there are some features of fish associated with their regulation on the diet of pregnant Sikuani women. The consumption of some fish is avoided during pregnancy because it is related to the appearance of disease caused by ainawi, protector spirits of aquatic animals. CONCLUSIONS: The traditional diet of Sikuani women includes numerous fish species and an important proportion of them are avoided during menarche, menstruation, gestation, and postpartum. According to our results, there are some features of fish associated with their regulation on the diet of pregnant Sikuani women. The main reasons underlying the avoidance of fish consumption by Sikuani women are the prevention of human disease as well as the strengthening of communities and ecosystems resilience.

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Background. Neural therapy and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) are part of complementary and alternative medicine in western world. Both of them share characteristics in diagnosis and therapeutics in search of changes in tenderness, pain, and skin stiffness related to visceral disease, as well as therapeutic procedures with specific stimuli on the skin that generate local, segmental, or remote reactions. Head zones explain segmental viscerocutaneous relations in neural therapy; however, interference fields and remote reactions after infiltration of local anesthetic go beyond this segmental distribution. Methods. This descriptive research required review and analysis of texts of Henry Head and traditional Chinese medicine. Results. Anatomical and functional relationships were found between Head zones in body, and head and neck with 14 acupuncture channels and their points. Anatomical areas of strong correlations were found: Head zones of heart and lung with heart and pericardium channels; Head zones of genitals with bladder and kidney channels. Strong functional relations between all Head zones, channels, and acupoints were found when following the pattern of segmental dermatomes; 235 acupuncture points were found in concordance.

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Esta investigación identifica qué variables del entorno, la vegetación y la salud, tienen correlación con la ordenación de las plantas medicinales por temperaturas en Palenque San Basilio; respondiendo tres preguntas centrales: (1) qué aspectos orientan esta clasificación; (2) que implicaciones tiene esta ordenación sobre el uso de las plantas medicinales; y (3) cómo esta vegetación y su clasificación frío-caliente, reflejan relaciones de similitud entre el territorio y el cuerpo humano. Esta clasificación por temperaturas es un sistema complejo, pues encuentra múltiples relaciones con factores del territorio, del uso medicinal, del ser humano y de la vegetación misma. La temperatura de las plantas es condicionada por la temperatura, humedad, cercanía a cuerpos de agua y relieve de los lugares donde habita esta flora, además por su sabor y por la temperatura de las enfermedades que trata o previene. Esta clasificación determina los momentos de uso de las plantas durante el día y el ciclo vital, como también sus métodos de preparación y administración. Este sistema tradicional de salud presenta rasgos del humoralismo, como se evidencia en la consideración de la sangre y la orina como fluidos corporales que reflejan el calor y el frío del territorio y las plantas medicinales.

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