Abstract
Abelmoschus manihot, an annual herbal flowering plant, is widely distributed throughout eastern Europe and in temperate and subtropical regions of Asia. Its flowers have been traditionally used for the treatment of chronic kidney disease in China. Currently, more than 128 phytochemical ingredients have been obtained and identified from the flowers, seeds, stems, and leaves of A. manihot. The primary components are flavonoids, amino acids, nucleosides, polysaccharides, organic acids, steroids, and volatile oils. A. manihot and its bioactive constituents possess a plethora of biological properties, including antidiabetic nephropathy, antioxidant, antiadipogenic, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, anticonvulsant, antidepressant, antiviral, antitumor, cardioprotective, antiplatelet, neuroprotective, immunomodulatory, and hepatoprotective activities, and have effects on cerebral infarction, bone loss, etc. However, insufficient utilization and excessive waste have already led to a rapid reduction of resources, meaning that a study on the sustainable use of A. manihot is urgent and necessary. Moreover, the major biologically active constituents and the mechanisms of action of the flowers have yet to be elucidated. The present paper provides an early and comprehensive review of the traditional uses, chemical constituents, pharmacological activities, and pharmaceutical, quality control, toxicological, and clinical settings to emphasize the benefits of this plant and lays a solid foundation for further development of A. manihot.
Highlights
Abelmoschus manihot (L.) Medicus, which belongs to the Malvaceae family and is commonly called Huang Shu Kui Hua, Dakpul, and Aibika, is an annual or perennial herbaceous flowering plant and an edible form of hibiscus
In agreement with the results of the in vivo study, hyperoside, which is a bioactive component of Huangkui capsule (HKC), at concentrations of 5 and 15 μg/mL significantly downregulated the protein expression of p-serine– threonine kinase (Akt), p-mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), p-PI3K, and pp70S6K in murine mesangial cells induced by high glucose levels in vitro (Wu et al, 2018), which suggested that HKC safely and efficiently alleviates early pathological changes in the glomeruli in diabetic nephropathy (DN) by inhibiting the PI3K/Akt/mTOR/70-kDa ribosomal protein S6 kinase (p70S6K) signaling pathway in vivo and in vitro and provides reliable evidence of the prevention of early DN
The results of this study showed that the plasma concentration of glibenclamide was markedly reduced when it was coadministered with HKC, and the maximum serum concentration and area under the concentration–time curve (AUC) significantly decreased, which suggests that HKC can decrease the absorption and accelerate the metabolism of glibenclamide by inducing the enzyme cytochrome P450
Summary
Abelmoschus manihot (L.) Medicus (syn.: Hibiscus manihot; Figure 1), which belongs to the Malvaceae family and is commonly called Huang Shu Kui Hua (in Chinese), Dakpul (in Korean), and Aibika (in Indonesian), is an annual or perennial herbaceous flowering plant and an edible form of hibiscus. In ancient China, A. manihot was first described in the two oldest books on classical medicine; namely, Jia You Ben Cao (simplified Chinese: 嘉佑本草) and Ban Cao Gang Mu (simplified Chinese: 本草纲目) It was officially listed in the 2015 edition of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia because of its medical and economic value and because it is widely distributed in many provinces of China, including Shanxi, Guangdong, Fujian, Guizhou, Guangxi, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Shandong, Sichuan, Yunnan, and Taiwan (Yan et al, 2015; Chen et al, 2016). In Papua New Guinea and the Pacific Islands, the flower of A. manihot is employed as a staple folk medicine to alleviate kidney pain, lower high cholesterol levels, impede menorrhagia, induce abortions, ease childbirth, stimulate lactation, treat diarrhea, and prevent osteoporosis (Bourdy and Walter, 1992; Puel et al, 2005; Prabawardani et al, 2016). It is recognized that amino acids from A. manihot contribute to the regulation of whole-body metabolism and play a key role in neurotransmission and lipid transport, as well as being involved in many pharmacological activities (Wang et al, 2010; Zhou et al, 2013; Refaey et al, 2015; Zhang et al, 2015)
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