In Austria, like in most Western countries, knowledge about traditional medicinal plants is becoming scarce. Searching the literature concerning Austria's ethnomedicine reveals its scant scientific exploration.
Aiming to substantiate the potential of medicinal plants traditionally used in Austria, 63 plant species or genera with claimed anti-inflammatory properties listed in the VOLKSMED database were assessed for their in vitro anti-inflammatory activity.
Results
In total, extracts from 67 of the 71 assessed herbal drugs revealed anti-inflammatory activity in the applied in vitro test systems. Thereby, 30 could downregulate E-selectin or IL-8 gene expression, 28 were strong activators of PPARα or PPARγ (inducing activation of more than 2-fold at a concentration of 10 µg/mL) and 21 evoked a strong inhibition of NF-κB (inhibition of more than 80% at 10 µg/mL).
