Materia Medica Used in Jaundice Based on Persian Medicine

Abstract

Jaundice is recognized by increased bilirubin level of blood and yellow appearance in skin, sclera and mucous membrane. Natural products have been used for treatment of jaundice for a long time and Persian Medicine can be a good source of natural drugs for this purpose. This study was done to find the materia medica used for jaundice based on Persian medicine (PM) texts including The Canon of Medicine (al-qanun), Al Hawi Fi Al Tibb, Tuhfat al-Mu’minin, Hedayat al-Motealemin fi Tibb, Zakhireye Khwarazmshahi, Al-Abniah 'an Haqaeq al-Adwia, Makhzan ul-Adwia and Ikhtiyarat Badie. One hundred eleven materia medica belonging to 51 families were identified as herbal remedies for treating jaundice. Apiaceae, Asteraceae, Cucurbitaceae, Fabaceae, Lamiaceae, Rosaceae and Zingiberaceae were the most dominant families. The results of this study may be present sources for pharmacological studies and development of new herbal medicines for jaundice. Asparagus, echium, arnebia, chicory, citron and purgative manna could be good candidate Materia Medica for future studies.

Keywords

• bilirubin
• herbal remedy
• jaundice
• materia medica
• Persian medicine