Ficus spp. (fig): Ethnobotany and potential as anticancer and anti-inflammatory agents

This review explores medieval, ancient and modern sources for ethnopharmacological uses of Ficus (fig) species, specifically for employment against malignant disease and inflammation. The close connection between inflammatory/infectious and cancerous diseases is apparent both from the medieval/ancie...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Journal of ethnopharmacology Vol. 119; no. 2; pp. 195 - 213
Main Authors:	Lansky, Ephraim Philip, Paavilainen, Helena M., Pawlus, Alison D., Newman, Robert A.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Shannon Elsevier Ireland Ltd 26-09-2008 Amsterdam; New York: Elsevier Elsevier
Subjects:	Animals Anti-inflammatory anti-inflammatory activity Anti-Inflammatory Agents - isolation & purification Anti-Inflammatory Agents - pharmacology Anticancer anticarcinogenic activity antimicrobial properties Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic - isolation & purification Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic - pharmacology Biological and medical sciences botany Cancer carcinogenesis chemical constituents of plants Clinical Trials as Topic ethnobotany Ficus Ficus - chemistry Figs General pharmacology Humans Hymenoptera Inflammation Inflammation - drug therapy latex literature reviews mechanism of action Medical sciences medicinal plants neoplasms Neoplasms - drug therapy Pharmacognosy. Homeopathy. Health food Pharmacology. Drug treatments phytochemicals processing technology traditional medicine Vitaceae Inflammation Anticancer Ficus Anti-inflammatory Figs Cancer Antineoplastic agent Ethnobotany Pharmacognosy Antiinflammatory agent Moraceae Woody plant Malignant tumor Medicinal plant Dicotyledones Angiospermae Plant origin Spermatophyta
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Summary:	This review explores medieval, ancient and modern sources for ethnopharmacological uses of Ficus (fig) species, specifically for employment against malignant disease and inflammation. The close connection between inflammatory/infectious and cancerous diseases is apparent both from the medieval/ancient merging of these concepts and the modern pharmacological recognition of the initiating and promoting importance of inflammation for cancer growth. Also considered are chemical groups and compounds underlying the anticancer and anti-inflammatory actions, the relationship of fig wasps and fig botany, extraction and storage of fig latex, and traditional methods of preparing fig medicaments including fig lye, fig wine and medicinal poultices.
Bibliography:	http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2008.06.025 ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 ObjectType-Article-2 ObjectType-Feature-3 ObjectType-Review-1
ISSN:	0378-8741 1872-7573
DOI:	10.1016/j.jep.2008.06.025