The second Hospitaller Brothers Herbal Medicine Conference 2022 entitled "Phytotherapy in the elderly" was organized on November 25, 2022 in Warsaw at the Okopowa Caritas Center in cooperation with professional academics.

The co-organizers of the Conference were: the Polish Province of the Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God, Bonifraters Medical Center, and the Section of Phytotherapy of Polish Medical Association.
 

 The function of the Chair of the Scientific Committee was appointment to Professor Kazimierz Głowniak, the former head of the Department of Pharmacognosy of the Medical University of Lublin, currently head of the Department of Cosmetology of the University of Information Technology and Management in Rzeszów, and the member of the working group Traditional Chinese Medicine at the European Pharmacopoeia Commission.
 

The following partners of the Conference were: the Polish Society of Clinical Pharmacy, Boni Fratres Pharmaceutical, the Polish Herbal Committee and the Institute of Natural Fibers and Medicinal Plants National Research Institute in Poznan.
 

In the event, under the patronage of the President of the Polish Medical Society, Professor Waldemar Kostewicz, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Warsaw, Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz, and the General of the Order of Brothers Hospitallers of St. John of God brother Jesús Etayo Arrondo, participated 170 participants (115 people on a regular basis and 55 on-line) from various environments related to phytotherapy. Among them the scientists from the departments of pharmaceutical botany, pharmacognosy, pharmacology, pharmaceutical technology and other research institutions, as well as pharmacists registered to this event. The medical community was represented primarily by geriatricians, neurologists and psychiatrists, but there were also laryngologists and family doctors, some of them associated with universities. The event interested also patients themselves and clinics focusing on the provision of medical services. There were also many enthusiasts of phytotherapy with other occupations.
 

We were honored with the presence of the Pharmaceutical Inspector of the Mazovian Voivodship (stationary) and of the president of the College of Family Physicians (on-line), as well as the representatives of the pharmaceutical media: Czasopismo Aptekarskie, Polish Journal of Cosmetology, Postępy Fitoterapii and Herba Polonica, as well as Catholic media (all stationary) .
 

During the conference four oral sessions were held with thirteen lectures on different topics related to phytotherapy of the elderly patients. Also, twenty-six scientific reports were submitted for the poster session.
 

In the Competition for the most interesting research work of a young scientist of the Provincial of the Polish Province of the Order of Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God a prize for the first place and two second prizes ex aequo were awarded.
 

Also, different competitions accompanying the conference, organized by Boni Fratres Pharmaceutical, were highly appreciated during the meeting. As a result, the participants were awarded with attractive sets of Boni Fratres Pharmaceutical products. They were also granted to the conference speakers as gifts.
 

The conference Organizing Committee derived from the Warsaw Branch of the Bonifratres Medical Center helped to offer good location, efficient organization of the event and a pleasant atmosphere during the conference and was cooperation with the whole group of the Organizing Committee members to make this event a pleasant and worth to remember.
 

The meeting was financially supported by the official sponsors: Phytopharm Klęka S.A., Ziołolek Sp. z o. o., TZMO S.A., STU ERGO Hestia S.A., 8 Supra Brokers S.A., Mercator Medical S.A, KAMSOFT S.A., Instytut Badawczy Innowacyjno Rozwojowy "BIOTOMED" Sp. Zoo.

 

Session No. 1 entitled “Health problems of elderly people from the perspective of a geriatrist, neurologist and a pharmacologist” was started with the lecture of professor Tomasz Kostka from the Clinic of Geriatrics of the Medical University of Lodz who presented his talk " Health needs of the elderly - the potential role of plant preparations". Also, professor Konrad Rejdak from the Chair and Clinic of Neurology, Medical University of Lublin, gave lecture entitled ,,Current neuroprotection possibilities in acute brain injury” and professor Przemysław Mikołajczak from the Chair and Department of Pharmacology of the Medical University in Poznań presented a lecture entitled "Interactions of plant-based drugs used in elderly patients".
 

During the Session No. 2 entitled "What's new in preclinical studies on plant-based components?" professor Ewa Widy-Tyszkiewicz from the Department of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology, Centre for Preclinical Research and Technology CePT, Medical University of Warsaw gave a lecture entitled " Health-promoting effects of phenolic acids on the example of protocatechuic acid ", professor Jarogniew Łuszczki from the Department of Occupational Medicine of the Medical University of Lublin presented his talk entitled "Natural substances in the treatment of epilepsy", and professor Marcin Ożarowski, professor at IWNIRZ-PIB from the Institute of Natural Fibers and Medicinal Plants of the National Research Institute discussed the "Phytotherapy of neurodegenerative diseases"
 

The Session No. 3 ,,The formulation of a plant-based drug – technological, analytical and biopharmaceutical issues” was opened by the speech of professor Wirginia Kukuła-Koch, university professor from the Department of Pharmacognosy with the Garden of Medicinal Plants of the Medical University of Lublin entitled “Peruvian maca (Lepidium peruvianum) – current application possibilities based on own studies” and followed by professor Małgorzata Sznitowska from the Department of Pharmaceutical Technology of the Medical University of Gdańsk who presented a lecture entitled ,, Cannabis flos and Cannabis floris extractum normatum – raw materials for medicinal products compounded by pharmacists in Poland and other countries”, and prof. Marian Mikołaj Zgoda et al. from the Applied Pharmacy Chair of the Medical University in Łódź and from Higher School of Cosmetology and Health Science in Łódź gave a talk entitled " Pharmaceutical availability (Q%) of phytochemicals from Linden Flower Extract (Tiliae flos ext.) in receptor fluids after disintegration of the model solid uncoated drug form "
 

The Session No. 5 entitled "What to do to feel young and stay healthy?" was held by four speakers: professor Jakub Bartoszewski, from the Department of Social Sciences; University of Applied Sciences in Konin gave a lecture entitled " Beauty does not change, but the conditions do: pulchrum of the third age", professor Edmund Grześkowiak from the Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Biopharmacy University of Medical Sciences in Poznan presented a lecture entitled "Does wine heal?", and doctor Angelika Kargulewicz from the Chair of Nutrition and Physical Activity of the Academy of Applied Sciences in Konin gave talk entitled “Anti-aging dietetics – can eating habits slow down the progression of aging?”. Session 4 was ended with a lecture entitled "Can Ginkgo biloba preparations help for vertigo, tinnitus and memory disorders?", delivered by doctor Dariusz Szabela from the Outpatient Clinic of the Warsaw branch of the Bonifratres Medical Center and from the Neurological Outpatient Clinic of the Wolski Hospital in Warsaw.
 

Of the 26 papers submitted for the Poster Session, six of them (P1-P6) concerned the study of the biological activity of plant products, five (P7-P11) showed the compositional analysis and biological activity of plant raw materials and extracts, and four papers (P12-P15) discussed the topic of raw materials and plant extracts used in the care and treatment of skin diseases. Five papers (P16-P21) could be qualified to the thematic group of in vitro cultures as a source of biologically active secondary metabolites, and four (P22-P26) concerned the safety of plant raw materials and products. Two of these works (P13 and P14) were not presented at the conference in the form of posters for reasons beyond the authors' control.
 

The award of the Provincial of the Polish Province of the Order of Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God for the most interesting research work of a young scientist was granted to Julia Górnicka from the Free Radicals Students’ Scientific Section at the Department of Organic and Physical Chemistry of the Faculty of Pharmacy of the Medical University of Warsaw for the work entitled "Obtaining co-crystals of curcumin with gallic acid and testing their antioxidant properties".
 

Provincial brother Franciszek Salezy Chmiel OH also awarded two second ex aequo prizes to Agnieszka Zakrzeska, PhD from the University of Medical Sciences of Bialystok for the work entitled "Study of the neuroprotective activity of betulin in Alzheimer's disease" and to Paweł Kubica, PhD from the Department of Pharmaceutical Botany, Faculty of Pharmacy, Collegium Medicum of the Jagiellonian University, for the work entitled "Antioxidant, antiproliferative and antibacterial activity of biomass extracts from various types of undifferentiated in vitro cultures and from the herb Verbena officinalis L."

 

 

Scientific editing of English abstracts from the poster session:

Marcin Ożarowski, PhD habilitated in pharmaceutical sciences, professor at the IWNIRZ-PIB, Institute of Natural Fibres and Medicinal Plants of the National Research Institute in Poznań
 

Scientific editing of English abstracts from oral sessions:

You can download English abstracts using the links below: