La flore médicinale traditionnelle de la région de Béni- Mellal (Maroc)

Objectif : le but de cette étude est de mener une enquête ethnobotanique des plantes médicinales utilisées en phytothérapie traditionnelle dans le district de Béni-Mellal.Méthodologie et résultats : A l’aide de 200 fiches questionnaires, une série d’enquêtes  ethnobotaniques a été menée sur le terrain en 2014 en utilisant un échantillonnage aléatoire stratifié. Ces recherches, complétées par l’identification des échantillons sur le terrain et au laboratoire, nous ont permis de faire connaissance de 69 espèces médicinales réparties en 38 familles et 63 genres avec une importance relative des familles suivantes par leur nombre d’espèces : Lamiaceae (23,07%), Apiaceae (21,05%), Fabaceae (10,52%) et Asteraceae (7,69%).Conclusion et application de la recherche : Cette étude a conduit à l'élaboration d'un catalogue de plantes médicinales contenant les informations sur les utilisations thérapeutiques pratiquées par la population locale. Par ailleurs, Cet inventaire peut constituer une source d’informations très précieuse .Il contribue par sa part à la connaissance de la flore médicinale et la sauvegarde du savoir-faire populaire local.Mots clés : plantes médicinales, ethnobotanique, Béni-Mellal, flore médicinale.Objective: The aim of this study is to conduct an ethnobotanical survey of medicinal plants used in traditional herbal medicine in Beni-Mellal district.Methods and results: Using 320 questionnaires, a series of ethnobotanical surveys was conducted in the field in 2014 using stratified random sampling techniques. This research, completed by the identification of samples in the field and in the laboratory, has allowed us to get to know 69 species belonging to 63 genera and 38 families, with a predominance of Lamiaceae (23.07%), Apiaceae (21.05%), Fabaceae (10,52%) and Asteraceae (7.69% %).Conclusion and application of research: This study has led to the development of a catalog of  medicinal plants which has the information about the therapeutic uses practiced by the local population. This inventory can be a very valuable source of information .It contributes its share to the knowledge of medicinal flora and the safeguarding of local popular expertise.Keywords: Medicinal plants, ethnobotany, Beni-Mellal, medicinal flora

Fibroblasts from patients with major depressive disorder show distinct transcriptional response to metabolic stressors

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is increasingly viewed as interplay of environmental stressors and genetic predisposition, and recent data suggest that the disease affects not only the brain, but the entire body. As a result, we aimed at determining whether patients with major depression have aberrant molecular responses to stress in peripheral tissues. We examined the effects of two metabolic stressors, galactose (GAL) or reduced lipids (RL), on the transcriptome and miRNome of human fibroblasts from 16 pairs of patients with MDD and matched healthy controls (CNTR). Our results demonstrate that both MDD and CNTR fibroblasts had a robust molecular response to GAL and RL challenges. Most importantly, a significant part (messenger RNAs (mRNAs): 26-33%; microRNAs (miRNAs): 81-90%) of the molecular response was only observed in MDD, but not in CNTR fibroblasts. The applied metabolic challenges uncovered mRNA and miRNA signatures, identifying responses to each stressor characteristic for the MDD fibroblasts. The distinct responses of MDD fibroblasts to GAL and RL revealed an aberrant engagement of molecular pathways, such as apoptosis, regulation of cell cycle, cell migration, metabolic control and energy production. In conclusion, the metabolic challenges evoked by GAL or RL in dermal fibroblasts exposed adaptive dysfunctions on mRNA and miRNA levels that are characteristic for MDD. This finding underscores the need to challenge biological systems to bring out disease-specific deficits, which otherwise might remain hidden under resting conditions

Efect of Ti-F surface interaction on the photocatalytic degradation of phenol, aniline and formic acid

A study is undertaken of the effect of fluorinating two TiO catalysts, both with the same surface area but one composed only of pure anatase phase (SA) and the other of mixed anatase and rutile phases (P25), on the degradation of phenol, formic acid and aniline. The catalysts were characterised by FTIR, BET, EDAXs, SEM, XRD and DRS-UV–vis studies. The method used for synthesis of the F-P25 and F-SA resulted in fluorinated catalysts with properties different to those of other fluorinated catalysts reported in the bibliography. The results obtained show that, unlike other studies in which the formation of free hydroxyl radicals ([rad]OH) was enhanced with the fluorinated catalysts, in the F-P25 and F-SA catalysts it was the formation of surface hydroxyl radicals ([rad]OH) which was significantly enhanced. In this way, the F-P25 and F-SA catalysts gave rise to higher degradation rate constants of phenol (k), aniline (k) and formic acid (k) than the P25 and SA catalysts.We are grateful for the financial support of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the projects CTQ2015-64664-C2-1-P and the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation for the UNLP10-3E-726 infrastructure, co-financed with ERDF funds. D. Garzón Sousa would like to thank the University of La Palmas de Gran Canaria for its funding through its PhD Grant Program and Wiâm El-Alami would also like to thank the UNetBA Erasmus Program for its funding through a mobility grant