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Introduction Since the beginning of time, man's relationship with medical treatment has been one of the most important parts of human ecology. Research on the use of wild flora for healing purposes could be used to make conclusions on processes of anthropogenesis and ethnogenesis, especially in some regions of the world. In some Asian and African countries, 80% of the population depends on traditional medicine for primary healthcare. Traditional medicine is often termed "alternative" or "complementary" medicine (WHO, 2008). According to "WHO Traditional Medicine Strategy 2002-2005", the use of complementary and alternative medicine is also increasing rapidly in developed countries. For example, 48% of Australia's population, 70% of Canada's population, and 42% of the United States' population has used traditional medicine at least one time in their lives. Although the side effects and the costs of conventional medicines have been their major criticisms, longer life expectancy and increased risk of developing chronic, debilitating diseases such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and mental disorders have also contributed to this trend (WHO, 2002). Plants provide a vast array of natural products and have been used in traditional medicine for thousands of years. Due to the political, economic, and social difficulties that block the proper distribution of modern healthcare in many parts of the world, the World Health Organization has started a substantial program to appraise traditional herbal medicines. This project essentially aims to solve the global healthcare problems by encouraging the use of locally used plants with proven empirical value. Ethnobotanical fieldworks play a key role in this sense as catalyzers of interactions between researchers and the people whose knowledge they document (WHO, 1978; Alcorn, 2003). Hence, two major challenges define contemporary ethnobotanical fieldwork. First, there is the longstanding Abstract: The main objective of this study is to identify and record the folk medicines used in Çamlıdere (Ankara) as well as to contribute to the preservation of this precious lore. For this purpose field trips were organized to Çamlıdere. A total of 79 taxa belonging to 66 genera and 33 families were recorded for the treatment of various disorders. The most represented families were Asteraceae, Lamiaceae, and Rosaceae, respectively. Respiratory tract diseases were the principal reasons for using folk medicines. Eight new folk medicines were included in the Turkish ethnobotanical repository with this study. Different ethnobotanical usages such as fuel and food were also noted. Our data obtained from the research area showed some uses of plants that were newly introduced to the folk medicinal literature of Turkey. Moreover, "Use value", "Informant consensus factor", and "Cultural importance index" were also calculated to evaluate the data statistically.

The present study was conducted to collect, record, and document local knowledge of medicinal practices in Düzce, a northwestern Anatolian province. To the best of our knowledge, no comprehensive ethnobotanical study has been reported from this province. Information was acquired through semistructured interviews and personal conversations using a questionnaire and numerous guided field trips with local knowledgeable people. For quantitative analyses and comparisons, recorded data such as informant consensus factor (F IC ) and use value (UV) were calculated, respectively. As a result of extensive field studies, 122 taxa were determined as folk medicines; 76 of were wild and 46 were cultivated. The identified medicinal plants were mainly from the family Rosaceae, followed by Compositae, Apiaceae, Lamiaceae, and Solanaceae, respectively. Among the preparations used, liquid forms such as infusions (30.2%) or decoctions (16.4%) represented the most favored ways to administer medicinal plants. Dermatological disorders had the highest F IC score with a value of 0.75 followed by skeletomuscular (F IC = 0.7466), gastrointestinal (F IC = 0.6666), immunological (F IC = 0.6615), and respiratory (F IC = 0.6292) system disorders, among others. The most prominent medicinal plants were Urtica dioica (UV = 0.4352), Plantago major (UV = 0.3056), Rubus ulmifolius (UV = 0.2279), and Sambucus ebulus (UV = 0.2279). According to the present study, the number of people who recognize and use the wild plants of Düzce, and those of the rest of Anatolia, is steadily decreasing. The ethnobotanical knowledge cannot be passed to the next generation in its entirety if it is not properly recorded. In addition to this gradual loss of knowledge, modern information pollution and contamination via the popular media highlight the urgent need to record this precious knowledge before it is lost.

The genus Cistus L., mainly growing in the Mediterranean region, is represented by five species in Turkey: C. creticus L., C. laurifolius L., C. monspeliensis L., C. parviflorus Lam., and C. salviifolius L. In this study, in vitro antimicrobial activity of water, methanol, chloroform, ethyl acetate, and buthanol extracts, prepared from dried and powdered leaves and the fruits of the five Cistus species, were investigated by the disk diffusion method against the following microorganisms: Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 29213 and ATCC 25923), Streptococcus faecalis (ATCC 29212), Bacillus subtilis (ATCC 6633), Bacillus cereus (RSKK 1122), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 27853), Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922), and Candida albicans (ATCC 10231). Chloroform, ethyl acetate, butanol, and the remaining aqueous extracts, obtained from the fractionation of methanol extract, were also tested. All of the extracts showed some activity against B. subtilis and B. cereus. Lyophylized extracts showed the highest activity against Staphylococcus aureus 25923 and 29213. Buthanol extracts of the leaves and fruits of C. creticus showed the highest activity. Extracts of all Cistus species did not show any activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida albicans.

Objective: The purpose of this experimental study was to evaluate the efficacy of hesperidin (HES) in protecting against methotrexate (MTX)-induced intestinal damage using histopathological and immunohistochemical techniques. Materials and Methods: Seventy-eight male Wistar albino rats were divided into 4 groups that received (a) saline only (control group), n = 19; (b) HES only, n = 19; (c) MTX only, n = 19, and (d) MTX plus HES, n = 21. On the first day of the study, a single dose of MTX (20 mg/kg) was administered intraperitoneally to group 3 and 4 rats. The HES (200 mg/kg) was administered by gavage for 5 days. For the MTX plus HES group, HES (200 mg/kg) was administered by gavage for 5 days after MTX treatment. Rats were sacrificed on the 2nd, 4th and 6th day of the study. Tissue samples from the jejunum were taken for histopathological and immunohistochemical analysis. Results: On the 4th day, crypt injury in the MTX plus HES group (1.00 ± 0.00) was less than that in the MTX group (2.00 ± 0.89; p < 0.05). The small intestinal damage score was lower in the MTX plus HES group (6.33 ± 0.82) as compared to the MTX group (8.00 ± 2.37). Inducible nitric oxide synthase and interleukin-8 levels were lower in the MTX plus HES group (65 and 25%, respectively) as compared to the corresponding values of the MTX group (80 and 52.5%, respectively). On the 6th day, the Ki-67 proliferation index in the MTX group (45%) was lower than that in the MTX plus HES group (76.67%) and the control group (p < 0.05). The small intestinal damage score was high in the HES group on the 4th day due to increased cellular infiltration. On the 6th day, the Ki-67 proliferation index rose in parallel with the decrease in cellular infiltration and therefore histopathological scoring. The proliferation-enhancing effect of HES also appeared in healthy rats. Conclusion: HES seemed to have a protective effect against MTX-induced intestinal injury.