The genus Onosma belongs to the Boraginaceae family and contains over 230 species. The present review sheds light on the ethnopharmacology, phytoconstituents, bioactivity, and toxicology of the Onosma species from previous investigations. Furthermore, the paper also highlights the unresolved issues for the future investigations. The review included previous studies of the genus Onosma available from Google Scholar and Baidu Scholar, Science Direct, SciFinder, Wiley Online Library, and Web of Science. Until now, more than 200 chemical compounds have been detected from the genus Onosma, including naphthoquinone (33), flavonoids (30), hydrocarbon (23), phenolic (22), ester (17), alkaloids (20), aromatics (12), carboxylic acid (11), fatty acids (9), terpenoids (10), while the most important ones are rosmarinic, ferulic, protocatechuic, chlorogenic, caffeic, p-coumaric acids, and apigenin. The Onosma species are reported as traditional medicine for wound healing, heart disease, and kidney disorders, while the pharmacological investigations revealed that the extracts and the phytochemicals of Onosma species have different therapeutic properties including antioxidant, enzyme inhibitory, antitumor, hepatoprotective, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial actions. The summarized knowledge in this review provides valuable ideas for the current and future drug discovery and a motivation for further investigation on the genus Onosma.

Pistacia atlantica (Bene) is a native Mediterranean plant that exudates a resinous therapeutic oleoresin gum used for many inflammatory‐related diseases. Therefore, the present study evaluates the acute toxicity and the gastroprotective effects of Pistacia atlantica gum (PAG) on ethanol‐mediated gastric ulcers in rats. Sprague Dawley rats (30) were placed in 5 cages: Group A received 10% tween 20; Group B, ulcer control, received 10% tween 20; reference rats (C, received 20 mg/kg omeprazole), groups D and E received 250 and 500 mg/kg of PAG, respectively. After 60 min, Groups B–E rats received absolute ethanol (5 mL/kg). The acute toxicity results showed a lack of any physiological alterations in rats supplemented with up to 5 g/kg of PAG. In the gastroprotective trial, the ulcer controls exhibited extensive gastric mucosal injuries, reduced stomach mucus secretion, a highly acidic stomach, and increased lesion areas. Ethanol ingestion caused significant inflammatory cell infiltration and oxidative stress indicators in their gastric tissues. The ulcer controls revealed reduced HSP 70, elevated Bax protein expressions, and lowered antioxidant enzymes and up‐regulated MDA contents. PAG treatment restored these negative effects of ethanol, which could be because of its terpenoids, phenolics, and flavonoids potentials that positively modulated the gastric defense barriers (mucopolysaccharides), gastric antioxidants, mucus secretion, and significantly increased gastric pH and reduced inflammatory cytokines (TNF‐α and IL‐6). The gastro‐prophylactic potentials are validated by its modulatory actions of gastric defense mechanisms, providing scientific evidence for future biochemical characterizations.