Journal of Ethnopharmacology 154 (2014) 481–536 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Ethnopharmacology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jep Review Medicinal Plants of the Russian Pharmacopoeia; their history and applications Alexander N. Shikov a,n, Olga N. Pozharitskaya a, Valery G. Makarov a, Hildebert Wagner b, Rob Verpoorte c, Michael Heinrich d a St-Petersburg Institute of Pharmacy, Kuz'molovskiy town, build 245, Vsevolozhskiy distr., Leningrad reg., 188663 Russia b Institute of Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Biology, Ludwig Maximilian University, D - 81377 Munich, Germany c Natural Products Laboratory, IBL, Leiden University, Sylvius Laboratory, PO Box 9505, 2300 RA Leiden, Sylviusweg 72 d Research Cluster Biodiversity and Medicines. Centre for Pharmacognosy and Phytotherapy, UCL School of Pharmacy, University of London article info abstract Article history: Ethnopharmacological relevance: Due to the location of Russia between West and East, Russian Received 22 January 2014 phytotherapy has accumulated and adopted approaches that originated in European and Asian Received in revised form traditional medicine. Phytotherapy is an official and separate branch of medicine in Russia; thus, herbal 31 March 2014 medicinal preparations are considered official medicaments. The aim of the present review is to Accepted 4 April 2014 summarize and critically appraise data concerning plants used in Russian medicine. This review Available online 15 April 2014 describes the history of herbal medicine in Russia, the current situation and the pharmacological effects Keywords: of specific plants in the Russian Pharmacopoeia that are not included in the European Pharmacopoeia. Aralia elata Materials and methods: Based on the State Pharmacopoeia of the USSR (11th edition), we selected plant Bergenia crassifolia species that have not yet been adopted in Western and Central Europe (e.g., selected for inclusion in the Bidens tripartita European Pharmacopoeia) and systematically searched the scientific literature for data using library Gnaphalium uliginosum Inonotus obliquus catalogs, the online service E-library.ru, and databases such as Medline/Pubmed, Scopus, and the Web of Tussilago farfara Science regarding species, effectiveness, pharmacological effects, and safety. Results: The Russian Federation follows the State Pharmacopoeia of the USSR (11th edition), which contains 83 individual plant monographs. Fifty-one of these plants are also found in the European Pharmacopoeia and have been well studied, but 32 plants are found only in the Pharmacopoeia of the USSR. Many articles about these medicinal plants were never translated in English, and much of the information collected by Russian scientists has never been made available to the international community. Such knowledge can be applied in future studies aimed at a safe, evidence-based use of traditional Russian medicinal plants in European and global phytopharmacotherapy as well as for the discovery of novel leads for drug development. Conclusion: The review highlights the therapeutic potential of these Russian phytopharmaceuticals but also highlights cases where concern has been raised about product safety and tolerability, which would aid in supporting their safe use. & 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/). Contents 1. Introduction........................................................................................................482 2. The history of herbal medicine in Russia . 483 3. Current situation . 484 4. ClassificationofHMPs................................................................................................484 5. Information found in pharmacopoeia monographs . 484 5.1. Anti-inflammatory agents . 486 5.1.1. HERBA BIDENTIS . 486 n Correspondence author. Tel.: þ7 812 3225605; fax þ7 812 6032432. E-mail addresses: [email protected], [email protected] (A.N. Shikov), [email protected] (M. Heinrich). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2014.04.007 0378-8741/& 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/). 482 A.N. Shikov et al. / Journal of Ethnopharmacology 154 (2014) 481–536 5.2. Diaphoretic and anti-inflammatory agents. 488 5.2.1. FRUCTUS VIBURNI . 488 5.3. Hypotensive, anti-inflammatory, and choleretic agents. 488 5.3.1. HERBA GNAPHALII ULIGINOSI . 488 5.4. Bitterants (appetite stimulants) . 488 5.4.1. HERBA CENTAURII . 488 5.5. Astringents. 492 5.5.1. FRUCTUS ALNI . 492 5.5.2. HERBA HYPERICI . 492 5.5.3. RHIZOMATA BERGENIAE . 493 5.6. Choleretic agents . 493 5.6.1. FLORES HELICHRYSI ARENARII . 493 5.7. Antihelmintic and choleretic agents . 493 5.7.1. FLORES TANACETI . 493 5.8. Expectorants . 495 5.8.1. CORMUS LEDI PALUSTRI . 495 5.8.2. FOLIA FARFARAE . 497 5.8.3. FOLIA PLANTAGINIS MAJORIS . 500 5.8.4. GEMMAE PINI . 500 5.8.5. RHIZOMATA ET RADICES INULAE . 500 5.8.6. RHIZOMATA CUM RADICIBUS POLEMONII . 500 5.9. Diuretic agents. 503 5.9.1. CORTEX VIBURNI . 503 5.9.2. FLORES CENTAUREAE CYANI . 503 5.9.3. FOLIA VITIS-IDAEA . 503 5.9.4. GEMMAE BETULAE . 505 5.10. Cardiotonic agents . 505 5.10.1. HERBA ADONIDIS VERNALIS . 505 5.10.2. HERBA CONVALLARIAE et FOLIA CONVALLARIAE et FLORES CONVALLARIAE . 508 5.11. Cardiovascular agents . ..