PARTE UTILIZADA= Used part: La planta entera, seca o fresca. 

ACCIÓN FARMACOLÓGICA= Pharmacological action: Antiespasmódica, antimicrobiana, antiasmática.

POSOLOGÍA= Posology: Hemorragia de bronquios y pulmones. Poner en infusión 25 g de la planta seca en medio litro de agua. Dejar reposar durante 30 minutos y colar. Tomar toda la tisana durante el día en 2 o 3 tomas fuera de las comidas: una en ayunas, otra al mediodía y la otra por la noche. Procurar no seguir durante mucho tiempo con el tratamiento y, en caso de que provocara irritación o vómitos, suspenderlo.

COMPOSICIÓN QUÍMICA= Chemical composition: Contiene naftoquinonas (plumbagona), tanino, ácidos orgánicos, flavonoides y colorante antociánico. 

ZONA GEOGRÁFICA= Geografical zone: España. Caminos de Santiago.

DIVERSIDAD GENÉTICA Y MEJORAMIENTO DE PLANTAS MEDICINALES= Medicinal plants and improvement of medicinal herbs:

The gene pool of insectivorous sundew, Drosera rotundifolia L., was studied to identify and analyze sequences encoding for pathogenesis-related (PR) proteins.  The digested genomic DNA was in "inverted" Southern hybridization probed to 19 clones for PR genes from different plant sources.  From representatives of PR subgroups 1-5, 8 and 9, genes for glucanases (PR-2), chitinases (PR-3) and thaumatin-like proteins (PR-5) were hybridizing.  A PCR approach using degenerated primers was chosen to isolate sequences of sundew glucanase gene.  Translation of a 500 bp long putative glucanase revealed similarity to catalytic domain of other glucanase amino acid sequences.  Despite the peculiarity of this sequence, it contains all conserved amino acid residues important for catalysis.  The sequence obtained in this study represents one of the first sequences encoding for nuclear genes in sundews reported, and brings the first evidence for presence of glucanases in sundew.  The potential use of this sequence in biotechnol. is considered as well.

ÚLTIMOS AVANCES EN LA QUÍMICA Y ACTIVIDADES BACTERIOLÓGICAS EN LAS PLANTAS MEDICINALES= Medicinal plants, last advances on chemistry and bacteria activities on the medicinal herbs
 
1) An efficient procedure for in vitro shoot prodn. of the medicinal plant sundew (Drosera rotundifolia L.) was developed.  Of three cytokinins tested, zeatin (ZEA) at a concn. of 2 mM resulted in the formation of large nos. of adventitious shoots on leaf explants.  A larger size of the small shoots was achieved by combining a 2 wk preculture with ZEA (step 1: shoot induction) with a 5 wk main culture without plant growth regulators (step 2: shoot elongation).  Liq. media were superior to semisolid media: an av. of 27.4 shoots per leaf explant, and 53.3 shoots per shoot explant were achieved.  The 2-step culture system with liq. media permits a comparatively cheap micropropagation of sundew as well as in vitro biomass prodn., with potential for scale-up.

2) The antiinflammatory effects of ethanol and aq. exts. from Drosera rotundifolia and from Drosera madagascariensis were compared in vivo in the HET-CAM assay.  Both exts. from D. rotundifolia and the ethanol ext. from D. madagascariensis showed remarkable efficacy at doses of 500 mg/pellet.  The inhibition of the inflammation by the exts. was stronger than that by 50 mg hydrocortisone/pellet.  In contrast, there was only a very weak effect obsd. at a dose of 500 mg/pellet of the water ext. from D. madagascariensis.  The chem. analyses of the exts. showed that the effect cannot be attributed to naphthoquinones, but might be due to flavonoids.  Ellagic acid obviously plays an important role in the antiangiogenic effect of the Drosera exts.
 
3) In investigations of the anti-inflammatory and spasmolytic effects of Drosera rotundifolia two, exts. were tested in different in vitro assays.  An aq. and an ethanolic ext. inhibited human neutrophil elastase, achieving IC50 values of 5 and 1 mg/mL, resp.  The very low naphthoquinone concns. in the exts. seem not to be responsible for the effect, as the pure compds. were not effective in the test system used.  Thus, flavonoids like hyperoside, quercetin and isoquercitrin, which were detected in the exts. in considerable concns., may contribute to the activity.  These substances showed activity in the assay.  Ellagic acid, detected esp. in the ethanolic ext. in higher amts., was substantially less active than the flavonoids.  In guinea-pig ileum the exts. led to an antispasmodic effect possibly by affecting an allosteric binding site of the muscarinic M3 receptors.

Patente extraída del Chemical Abstracts
 
Herbal deodorant/Herbal deodorant prepared with Myrtus, Laurus nobilis, Drosera and Myrrhis resin.      Levin, Ezra.  (Hlavin Industries, Ltd., Israel).    U.S. Pat. Appl. Publ.  (2001),     Cont. of Appl. No. PCT/IL99/00415.  CODEN: USXXCO  US  20010006626  A1  20010705  Patent  written in English.    Application: US  2001-775107  20010201.  Priority: IL  1998-125655  19980804; WO  1999-IL415  19990728.  AN 2009:1492563    CAPLUS   (Copyright (C) 2011 ACS on SciFinder (R))  

A deodorant compn. with active antibacterial constituents comprises the plant exts. of Myrtus (myrtle) 2% to 8%, Laurus nobilis (sweet bay) 1% to 5%, Drosera (sundew) ext. 1 to 7%, Myrrhis resin 3 to 6%, and water and being substantially free of alc. and aluminum.  Pinus Sibirica resin may be substitutes for myrrh resin and drosera ext. from drosera including drosera rotundifolia and drosera longustifolia.  In addn., the compn. comprises 0.2% to 0.8% Sappi Gel, fragrances, salts inlcuding potassium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide, and ammonium carbonate, or ammonium hydroxide, preservatives such as parabens, stabilizers such as antioxidants and benzophenones or thickeners such as hydroxypropylcellulose.  It can be made into a roll-on deodorant, a stick deodorant or a spray deodorant.

1) ALFARO, Txumari, Plantas y remedios naturales de los Caminos de Santiago. Barcelona: B.S.A. 2008, p. 92.

2) MATUSIKOVA, Ildiko, et al..  The insectivorous sundew (Drosera rotundifolia, L.) might be a novel source of PR genes for biotechnology. Biologia (Bratislava, Slovakia). 2004, vol.59, nº6, p.719-725.
 
3)  WAWROSCH, Christoph; BENDA, Eva; KOPP, Brigitte. An improved 2-step liquid culture system for efficient in vitro shoot proliferation of sundew (Drosera rotundifolia L.).  Scientia Pharmaceutica. 2009, vol.77, nº4, p.827-835.
 
4) PAPER, Dietrich H., et al. Comparison of the antiinflammatory effects of Drosera rotundifolia and Drosera madagascariensis in the HET-CAM assay.  Phytotherapy Research. 2005, vol.19, nº4, p.323-326.
 
5) KRENN, Liselotte, et al. In vitro antispasmodic and anti-inflammatory effects of Drosera rotundifolia. Arzneimittel Forschung. 2004, vol.54, nº7, p.402-405.

6) ALONSO, Jorge R. Tratado de fitomedicina : bases clínicas y farmacológicas. Buenos Aires : ISIS, 1998, p. 459.