Medicinal herbs for the treatment of rheumatic disorders--a survey of European herbals from the 16th and 17th century.
BACKGROUND
From the 16th up into the 18th century botanical and medicinal knowledge in Europe was documented and spread in magnificently illustrated herbals. For the most part modern science has neglected this source of knowledge and old remedies have not been systematically evaluated pharmacologically.


OBJECTIVE
Rheumatic disorders and chronic inflammatory and degenerative diseases of the musculoskeletal system were chosen in an attempt to discuss remedies described in the old herbals in the viewpoint of modern science.


METHODS
Five of the most important European herbals of the 16th and 17th century were searched for terms related to rheumatic diseases, and plants and recipes described for their treatment. An extensive search of the scientific data banks Medline and SciFinder scholar was done to find recent results concerning the phytochemistry and possible antiphlogistic activities of the plants.


RESULTS
Sixty-three plants were identified in the herbals for this indication. More than half of them have shown in vitro or in vivo antiphlogistic activities.


CONCLUSIONS
European herbals may be a valuable source of information for the selection of plants for focussed screening programmes. Information contained in these herbals should be explored in a systematic manner.
Adams
Michael
M
Institute of Pharmaceutical Biology, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 50, CH-4056 Basel, Switzerland. michael.adams78@gmail.com
Berset
Caroline
C
Kessler
Michael
M
Hamburger
Matthias
M
D005060:Europe; D029001:Herbal Medicine / Q000266:history*; D049669:History, 16th Century; D049670:History, 17th Century; D006801:Humans; D008419:Materia Medica / Q000737:chemistry / Q000266:history* / Q000494:pharmacology; D008519:Medicine, Traditional / Q000266:history; D010602:Pharmacopoeias as Topic / Q000266:history; D008517:Phytotherapy / Q000266:history*; D010946:Plants, Medicinal; D012216:Rheumatic Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000266:history*
D008419:Materia Medica