Clerodendrum Species Research Articles

Ethnomedicinal application, phytochemistry and therapeutic effects of genus clerodendrum

The genus Clerodendrum consist of flowering plants, which was once classified as a member of the Verbenaceae family, was recently classified as a member of the Lamiaceae family. Various species of this genus have been generally used for treating several ailments and disorders as well as ornamental plants. Secondary metabolites found in abundance in these species include terpenoids, saponins, carbohydrates, and glucosides as well as alkaloids, flavonoids, and phenolic compounds. Studies conducted so far have shown that the extracts and compounds of the species in this genus exert diverse physiological activities, including anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, antihypertensive, anti-allergic, analgesic, hepatoprotective, post-coital antifertility, antimicrobial, anticholinesterase, membrane stabilizing, antihelmitic, hypolipidemic, antitumor, and antimicrobial properties. Medicinal plants in this genus are beneficial, therefore they should be considered as lead in drug discovery and formulation.Keywords: Clerodendrum species, Forkloric uses, Pharmacological application, Phytoconstituents, Therapeutics

Ultrasound-Assisted Extraction of Verbascoside from Clerodendrum glandulosum Leaves for Analysis of Antioxidant and Antidiabetic Activities.

Verbascoside (VER) is a phenylethanoid glycoside compound found in Clerodendrum species and is an important part of traditional medicine. It is found in the leaves of Clerodendrum glandulosum, which is taken as a soup or vegetable and also utilized in traditional medicine by the people of Northeast India, especially against hypertension and diabetes. In the present study, VER was extracted from C. glandulosum leaves using ultrasound-assisted extraction through the solvent extraction method (ethanol-water, ethanol, and water). The ethanol extract had the highest phenolic and flavonoid contents, viz., 110.55 mg GAE/g and 87.60 mg QE/g, respectively. HPLC and LC-MS were used to identify the active phenolic compound, and VER was found to be the main component present in the extraction with a molecular weight of 624.59 g/mol. NMR (1H, 2D-COSY) analysis showed the presence of hydroxytyrosol, caffeic acid, glucose, and rhamnose in the VER backbone. Further, different antioxidant activities and antidiabetic and antihyperlipidemia enzyme markers' inhibition against VER-enriched ethanol extract were evaluated. The results showed that ultrasound extraction of polyphenols using ethanol from C. glandulosum could be a promising technique for the extraction of bioactive compounds.

Conserved chloroplast genome sequences of the genus Clerodendrum Linn. (Lamiaceae) as a super-barcode.

The plants of the genus Clerodendrum L. have great potential for development as an ornamental and important herbal resource. There is no significant morphological difference among many species of the genus Clerodendrum, which will lead to confusion among the herbs of this genus and ultimately affect the quality of the herbs. The chloroplast genome will contribute to the development of new markers used for the identification and classification of species. Here, we obtained the complete chloroplast genome sequences of Clerodendrum chinense (Osbeck) Mabberley and Clerodendrum thomsoniae Balf.f. using the next generation DNA sequencing technology. The chloroplast genomes of the two species all encode a total of 112 unique genes, including 80 protein-coding, 28 tRNA, and four rRNA genes. A total of 44-42 simple sequence repeats, 19-16 tandem repeats and 44-44 scattered repetitive sequences were identified. Phylogenetic analyses showed that the nine Clerodendrum species were classified into two clades and together formed a monophyletic group. Selective pressure analyses of 77 protein-coding genes showed that there was no gene under positive selection in the Clerodendrum branch. Analyses of sequence divergence found two intergenic regions: trnH-GUG-psbA, nhdD-psaC, exhibiting a high degree of variations. Meanwhile, there was no hypervariable region identified in protein coding genes. However, the sequence identities of these two intergenic spacers (IGSs) are greater than 99% among some species, which will result in the two IGSs not being used to distinguish Clerodendrum species. Analysis of the structure at the LSC (Large single copy) /IR (Inverted repeat) and SSC (Small single copy)/IR boundary regions showed dynamic changes. The above results showed that the complete chloroplast genomes can be used as a super-barcode to identify these Clerodendrum species. The study lay the foundation for the understanding of the evolutionary process of the genus Clerodendrum.

Virtual Screening and Network Pharmacology-Based Study to Explore the Pharmacological Mechanism of Clerodendrum Species for Anticancer Treatment.

Cancer is a second leading cause of death in the world, killing approximately 3500 per million people each year. Therefore, the drugs with multitarget pharmacology based on biological networks are crucial to investigate the molecular mechanisms of cancer drugs and repurpose the existing drugs to reduce adverse effects. Clerodendrum is a diversified genus with a wide range of economic and pharmacological properties. Limited studies were conducted on the genus's putative anticancer properties and the mechanisms of action based on biological networks remains unknown. This study was aimed to construct the possible compound/target/pathway biological networks for anticancer effect of Clerodendrum sp. using docking weighted network pharmacological approach and to investigate its potential mechanism of action. A total of 194 natural Clerodendrum sp. Compounds were retrieved from public databases and screened using eight molecular descriptors. The cancer-associated gene targets were retrieved from databases and the function of the target genes with related pathways were examined. Cytoscape v3.7.2 was used to build three major networks: compound-target network, target-target pathway network, and compound-target-pathway network. Our finding indicates that the anticancer activity of Clerodendrum sp. involves 6 compounds, 9 targets, and 63 signaling pathways, resulting in multicompounds, multitargets, and multipathways networks. Additionally, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were used to estimate the binding affinity of the best hit protein-ligand complexes. Conclusion. This study suggests the potential anticancer activity of Clerodendrum sp. which could further contribute to scavenger novel compounds for the development of new alternative anticancer drugs.

Pollen storage, viability and effect of growth hormones on in vitro pollen germination in two medicinal plants (Clerodendrum colebrookianum Walp. and Clerodendrum infortunatum L.) of the tropical moist forest of North-east India

Clerodendrum colebrookianum Walp. and Clerodendrum infortunatum L. are well known for their medicinal uses in treating various human ailments traditionally. Pollen biology study was done in both plant species to decipher pollen viability, in vitro pollen germination, and pollen storage in varied temperature conditions. Pollen viability tests was done by 2, 3, 5-triphenyl tetrazolium chloride (TTC test) for which pollen grains were collected at the anthesis stage that ascertained high viability, ranged between 71.97%±4.30 % in C. colebrookianum and 81.63%±3.23 in C. infortunatum. In vitro pollen germination was conducted under different hormones (IBA, IAA, GA3, and Kinetin) with concentrations of 100 mg L-1, 200 mg L-1 and 300 mg L-1. Highest germination percentage of 52.10±5.30% and 61.91±1.76% in GA3 (200 mg L-1) was the most suitable growth hormone concentration for inducing in vitro pollen germination in both Clerodendrum species. Statistically, the response of all the concentrations of treatments, sucrose, and hormones, with their time on in vitro pollen germination of C. colebrookianum and C. infortunatum was found significantly different (p<0.05). In contrast, non-significant differences were recorded for in vitro pollen germination between the medicinal plant species. Pollen storage under temperature gradient conditions exhibited a similar trend in the viability for both C. colebrookianum, and C. infortunatum, i.e., the pollen remained viable up to 28 days at -20°C and 6°C, respectively. This study will be helpful in future breeding, hybridization, and conservation efforts for both the Clerodendrum species.

Antioxidant properties of Clerodendrum species found in north east India: A review

The popularity of herbal medicine is increasing very rapidly among the people due to awareness of harmful side effects and adverse reactions caused by synthetic compounds. There are about 580 species of Clerodendrum which belongs to the family Verbenaceae. Its widely distributed in the tropical regions of the world mostly in the south east Asia. Clerodenrum is an important locally used medicinal plant. It is one of the essential herbs. The leaves Clerodendrum species found in North eastern part of India forms an important source of diet. Various plant parts such as root and leaf extracts of C. phlomidis, C. petasites, C. serratum, C. trichotomum, C. chinense and C. indicum have been used for the treatment of hypertension, diabetes, rheumatism, asthma, coughs, skin diseases, vermifuge, febrifuge, malaria, inflammatory diseases etc. Clerodendrum genus has also been widely explored for various biological activities to know its potential effect towards pharmaceutics one of which is anti-oxidant property. In the present review the antioxidant property of Clerodendrum at different concentrations in the DPPH radical scavenging assay, is studied.

<p><strong><em>Clerodendrum angustipetalum</em>, a new species of <em>Clerodendrum</em> (Lamiaceae) from Thailand</strong></p>

Clerodendrum angustipetalum (Lamiaceae), an endemic species to Narathiwat province, southern Thailand, is described and illustrated as a species new to science. It is similar to C. nutans in having an elongate pendulous inflorescence, but essentially differs in the thicker leaf texture (subcoriaceous vs membranaceous), the calyx tube being almost twice as long and the corolla lobes being half as broad. In addition, the new species has longer calyx lobes, corolla lobes and stamens. The conservation status of this species is assessed as Critically Endangered (CR, B2a + b(ii, iii)+C2ai+D) due to being known from a single locality with a small population of less than 50 individuals. A morphological comparison between similar species and an updated key to Clerodendrum species with pendulous inflorescences from southern Thailand is also presented.

Phenylpropanoid and flavonoid glycosides from the leaves of Clerodendrum infortunatum (Lamiaceae)

Clerodendrum infortunatum L. (syn.: Clerodendrum viscosum Vent.), a member of the Lamiaceae, yielded one undescribed jasmonic acid derivative, ten acteosides, and two flavonoids. The jasmonic acid derivative was identified as 6'-O-caffeoyl-12-glucopyranosyloxyjasmonic acid. The acteosides were identified as isoacteoside, acteoside, 2''-O-acetyl-martyonside, 3''-O-acetyl-martyonside, martynoside, brachynoside, leucosceptoside A, jionoside C, jionoside D, incanoside C. The flavonoids were identified as apigenin 7-O-glucuronide and acacetin 7-O-glucuronide. The structures of the isolated components have been identified by UHPLC-HRMS, 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopic analyses, spectrometric techniques, and in comparison with published NMR data. The absolute sugar configuration was determined by GLC-MS/MS analysis of the octylated derivative of the sugar moiety after hydrolysis. Among the known compounds, ten are reported for the first time from this species, while the acteoside leucosceptoside A and the two flavonoids have been isolated for the first time from the genus Clerodendrum. The chemophenetic significance of the compounds obtained from C. infortunatum is summarized in comparison to those found in other Clerodendrum species.

DNA barcodes for delineating Clerodendrum species of North East India

The diversified genus of Clerodendrum with its complex evolutionary history leads to taxonomic mystification. Unlike traditional taxonomic methods, DNA barcoding could be a promising tool for the identification and conservation of Clerodendrum species. This study was attempted to develop an efficient barcode locus in Clerodendrum species of North East India. We evaluated four barcode candidates (ITS2, matK, rbcL, ycf1) and its combinations in different Clerodendrum species. The reliability of barcodes to distinguish the species were calculated using genetic pairwise distances, intra- and inter-specific diversity, barcode gap, and phylogenetic tree-based methods. The results exemplify that matK posse’s maximum number of variables and parsimony-informative sites (103/100), intra- (0.021 ± 0.001) and inter- (0.086 ± 0.005) specific divergences and species resolution rate (89.1%) followed by ITS2, ycf1, and rbcL. Among the combinatorial locus, ITS2 + matK showed the best species discrimination with distinctive barcode gaps. Therefore, we tentatively suggest that the combination of ITS2 + matK as core barcode for Clerodendrum and converted into quick response (QR) code. Hence, this finding indicates that DNA barcoding could provide consistent resources for species discrimination and resolve taxonomic controversies of the genus as well as set a preliminary assessment toward its biodiversity.

Natural compounds from Clerodendrum spp. as possible therapeutic candidates against SARS-CoV-2: An in silico investigation

The COVID-19 pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has rattled global public health, with researchers struggling to find specific therapeutic solutions. In this context, the present study employed an in silico approach to assess the inhibitory potential of the phytochemicals obtained from GC-MS analysis of twelve Clerodendrum species against the imperative spike protein, main protease enzyme Mpro and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) of SARS-CoV-2. An extensive molecular docking investigation of the phytocompounds at the active binding pockets of the viral proteins revealed promising inhibitory potential of the phytochemicals taraxerol, friedelin and stigmasterol. Decent physicochemical attributes of the compounds in accordance with Lipinski’s rule of five and Veber’s rule further established them as potential therapeutic candidates against SARS-CoV-2. Molecular mechanics-generalized Born surface area (MM-GBSA) binding free energy estimation revealed that taraxerol was the most promising candidate displaying the highest binding efficacy with all the concerned SARS-CoV-2 proteins included in the present analysis. Our observations were supported by robust molecular dynamics simulations of the complexes of the viral proteins with taraxerol for a timescale of 40 nanoseconds. It was striking to note that taraxerol exhibited better binding energy scores with the concerned viral proteins than the drugs that are specifically targeted against them. The present results promise to provide new avenues to further evaluate the potential of the phytocompound taraxerol in vitro and in vivo towards its successful deployment as a SARS-CoV-2 inhibitor and combat the catastrophic COVID-19. Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma

Chemotaxonomic differentiation of Clerodendrum species based on high-performance thin-layer chromatographic fingerprinting of key secondary metabolites and chemometric data analysis

Clerodendrum viscosum leaves are used in indigenous systems of medicines of mainland and maritime Southeast Asian countries for the treatment of fever, pain, dysentery, colic, and removal of Ascarids. The Clerodendrum species under study exhibit various phytochemical and morphological similarities. Therefore, it is very challenging to distinguish raw powdered materials used for therapeutic purposes. A validated high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) method with 4 key markers, viz., 24β-ethylcholesta-5,22E,25-triene-3β-O-D-glucoside, clerodinin-A, 24β-ethylcholesta-5,22E,25-triene-3β-ol, and lupeol coupled with a chemometric analysis was used to distinguish 3 closely related Clerodendrum species, viz., C. inerme, C. multiforum, and C. viscosum. PRISMA approach was applied for effective HPTLC fingerprint development. The HPTLC—densitometry method was validated following the current International Conference on Harmonisation (ICH) guidelines. Taxonomic differentiation was established by fingerprint-based similarity analysis, a chemotaxonomic study using hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA), and principal component analysis (PCA) was done. HPTLC chromatogram similarity was calculated as correlation coefficient and congruence coefficient values, demonstrating poor similarities (0.26–0.86). However, PCA has resulted in 2 principal component (PC) loadings. PC1 separated C. multiforum, explaining 85.48% of variance mainly due to distribution of 2 triterpenoids. The present HPTLC method is coupled to marker-based quality determination of raw plants as well as discrimination of Clerodendrum species. Chemometric analysis based on 4 metabolites clearly establishes a practical identification of Clerodendrum species intended for therapeutic use.

Ethnobotanical uses, phytochemistry and biological activities of Clerodendrum paniculatum L. (Lamiaceae): A comprehensive review

Clerodendrum L. is an important genus in the family Lamiaceae in terms of its medicinal values and pharmacological properties. The genus comprises of more than 500 species distributed worldwide. In this review, we present an updated information on ethnobotanical uses, phytochemistry and biological activities of Clerodendrum paniculatum L. (Lamiaceae). The plant is one the most spectacular Clerodendrum species and is grown commonly for ornamental purpose. The plant is reported to have ethnomedicinal importance as the plant is used as remedy for ailments and disorders such as wounds, typhoid, snakebite, jaundice, giddiness, malaria, anemia and hemorrhoids. Various phytochemicals such as rutin, quercetin, β-sitosterol, β-amyrin, lupeol, oleanolic aldehyde acetate, stigmasta-4,25-dien-3-one, and (3β)-stigmasta-4,22,25-trien-3-ol have been identified in C. paniculatum. The plant is shown to exhibit biological activities such as antimicrobial, antioxidant, anthelmintic, anti-inflammatory, antimutagenic, cytotoxic, hypolipidemic, insecticidal and anti-ageing activity.
 Keywords: Clerodendrum paniculatum L., Ethnobotanical, Traditional, Phytochemicals, Biological activities

Cytotoxic activity of the chemical constituents of Clerodendrum indicum and Clerodendrum villosum roots

ObjectiveThe roots of two Thai medicinal plants, Clerodendrum indicum and Clerodendrum villosum are found in traditional medicine practices. The aim of this research was to preliminarily study the cytotoxicity of extracts of their roots, and the parts that possessed cytotoxic activity were separated on a chromatograph to identify their active compounds. MethodsThe extracts of both plants were screened for cytotoxicity on the SW620 cell line and the compounds isolated from the active extracts were further evaluated for their cytotoxic activity against five human cancer cell lines, including SW620, ChaGo-K-1, HepG2, KATO-III and BT-474 using the 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2-H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. ResultsDichloromethane extracts of C. indicum and C. villosum were active against the SW620 cell line. Triterpenoids were mostly obtained from the extracts of these plants (0.28% and 1.02%, respectively) and exhibited varying degrees of cytotoxicity and specificity against the tested cell lines. Two triterpenoids, oleanolic acid 3-acetate and betulinic acid, displayed moderate to strong cytotoxicity toward all cancer cell lines, with 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) values of 1.66–20.49 µmol/L, whereas 3β-hydroxy-D:B-friedo-olean-5-ene and taraxerol were cytotoxic to only the SW620 cell line (IC50 = 23.39 and 2.09 µmol/L, respectively). Triterpenoid, lupeol, showed potent cytotoxicity on both SW620 (IC50 = 1.99 µmol/L) and KATO-III cell lines (IC50 = 1.95 µmol/L), while a flavonoid, pectolinarigenin, displayed moderate cytotoxicity against these cells (IC50 = 13.05 and 24.31 µmol/L, respectively). Although the widely distributed steroid, stigmasterol, was effective against the SW620 cell line (IC50 = 2.79 µmol/L) and β-sitosterol was also active against SW620 (IC50 = 11.26 µmol/L), BT-474 (IC50 = 14.11 µmol/L) and HepG2 cancer cells (IC50 = 20.47 µmol/L), none of the characteristic 24β-ethylsteroids of either Clerodendrum species were shown to be cytotoxic. ConclusionThis study is the first report on the presence of cytotoxic triterpenoids from the roots of these medicinal plants, which have been used in herbal formulas as an antipyretic. Our findings support further in-depth study of this pharmacological activity as an anticancer agent.

Survey of traditional Dai medicine reveals species confusion and potential safety concerns: a case study on Radix Clerodendri Japonicum

The adulteration of herbal products is a threat to consumer safety. In the present study, we surveyed the species composition of commercial Radix Clerodendri Japonicum products using DNA barcoding as a supervisory method. A reference database for plant-material DNA-barcode was successfully constructed with 48 voucher samples from 12 Clerodendrum species. The database was used to identify 27 Radix Clerodendri Japonicum decoction piece samples purchased from drug stores and hospitals. The DNA sequencing results revealed that only 1 decoction piece (3.70%) was authentic C. japonicum, as recorded in the Dai Pharmacopeia, whereas the other samples were all adulterants, indicating a potential safety issue. The results indicate that decoction pieces that are available in the market have complex origins and that DNA barcoding is a suitable tool for regulation of Dai medicines.

Network pharmacology-based virtual screening of natural products from Clerodendrum species for identification of novel anti-cancer therapeutics

Plant-derived natural products (NPs) play a vital role in the discovery of new drug molecules and these are used for development of novel therapeutic drugs for a specific disease target. Literature review suggests that natural products possess strong inhibitory efficacy against various types of cancer cells. Clerodendrum indicum and Clerodendrum serratum are reported to have anticancer activity; therefore a study was carried out to identify selective anticancer agents from these plants species. In this report, we employed a docking weighted network pharmacological approach to understand the multi-therapeutics potentiality of C. indicum and C. serratum against various types of cancer. A library of 53 natural products derived from these plants was compiled from the literature and three dimensional space analyses were performed in order to establish the drug-likeness of the NPs library. Further, an NPs-cancer network was built based on docking. We predicted five compounds, namely apigenin 7-glucoside, hispidulin, scutellarein-7-O-beta-d-glucuronate, acteoside and verbascoside, to be potential binding therapeutics for cancer target proteins. Apigenin 7-glucoside and hispidulin were found to have maximum binding interactions (relationship) with 17 cancer drug targets in terms of docking weighted network pharmacological analysis. Hence, we used an integrative approach obtained from network pharmacology for identifying combinatorial drug actions against the cancer targets. We believe that our present study may provide important clues for finding novel drug inhibitors for cancer.

Micropropagation of Clerodendrum L. species: a review

Species within the Clerodendrum genus possess well-established pharmacological and medicinal properties. These emanate from the presence of many unique bioactive secondary metabolites. Eight Clerodendrum species (C. anomalum, C. calcicola, C. denticulatum, C. galeatum, C. leucophloeum, C. lutambense, C. eupatorioides, and C. aculeatum) are listed on the International Union of Conservation of Nature Red Data List. Micropropagation offers an opportunity for the conservation and large-scale propagation of elite genotypes and is a widely used technique for the conservation of threatened medicinal plants, including Clerodendrum species. This review highlights the advances that have been made thus far in the in vitro tissue culture of members of the Clerodendrum genus. Most of the efforts made to date have focussed on basic in vitro growth or regeneration, primarily from seeds, nodes, and leaves, either from an ex vitro or an in vitro source. Following a wide range of disinfection procedures that depend on the source and age of the explant, most studies employed Murashige and Skoog basal medium in a 12- to 16-h photoperiod. The most effective cytokinin for the induction of shoots was N 6-benzyladenine. Although plantlet acclimatization to field conditions was widely reported, it was often poorly quantified. Based on this base of information, applied aspects such as genetic engineering, mutation breeding, the production of haploid and double-haploid lines, protoplast fusion, embryo rescue, in vitro production of secondary metabolite acquisition through hairy roots or bioreactors, somaclonal variation, and cryopreservation still need to be developed and explored.

Antioxidant and pharmaceutical potential of Clerodendrum L.: An overview

Clerodendrum, with about 580 species, belongs to the family Verbenaceae and is widely distributed in the tropical and warm temperate regions of the world. The leaves of some species of Clerodendrum form an important source of diet in North eastern part of India. Various plant parts such as leaf and root extracts of C. indicum, C. phlomidis, C. serratum, C. trichotomum, C. chinense and C. petasites have been used for the treatment of rheumatism, asthma, inflammatory diseases, coughs, skin diseases, vermifuge, febrifuge, malaria etc. Isolation and identification of different chemical compounds and biological activities of the genus Clerodendrum have been studied by few researchers. The major chemical components reported from the genus are phenolics, steroids, flavonoids, terpenes,volatile oils, etc., This paper presents a comprehensive review on the various aspects of Clerodendrum species with respect to their traditional usage or use as alternative medicine for the treatment of various diseases. Key words: Antioxidant, Clerodendrum, flavonoids, pharmaceutical, phenolics, steroids, terpenoids

Comparison of pollination characteristics between the insular shrub Clerodendrum izuinsulare and its widespread congener C. trichotomum

AbstractImpact of pollinator shift on differentiation of floral morphology has attracted the interest of naturalists for many years. A comparative investigation was conducted for determining the pollination characteristics, including pollinator assemblage, floral morphology, flowering phenology, and self‐compatibility, of two closely related Clerodendrum species—insular C. izuinsulare and widespread C. trichotomum. Japanese black swallowtail butterflies were the predominant flower visitors in mainland Japan, whereas diurnal hawk moths were predominantly found on the Izu Islands, a chain of oceanic islands located off the southeastern coast of the main Japanese island of Honshu in the west Pacific Ocean. The corolla tube of C. izuinsulare was longer than that of C. trichotomum, whereas the filaments and petals of C. izuinsulare were shorter than those of C. trichotomum. The flowering season of C. izuinsulare was later than that of C. trichotomum. The self‐compatibility of C. izuinsulare was higher than that of C. trichotomum. These differences might be associated with the low density of Japanese black swallowtail butterflies and dominance of diurnal hawk moths on the Izu Islands.

Antimicrobial activity of some Clerodendrum species from Egypt

Chloroformic and methanolic extracts of four Clerodendrum species cultivated in Egypt were screened for antimicrobial activities. Chloroformic extracts of the flowers of Clerodendrum chinense and Clerodendrum splendens were active against Plasmodium falciparum (IC50 < 10 µg mL−1). Chloroformic extracts of the stem and flowers of C. chinense were active against Trypanosoma cruzi (IC50 = 1.21 and 1.12 µg mL−1, respectively) with marginal cytotoxicity. Chloroformic extracts of the leaves of C. chinense and C. splendens showed promising activities against T. cruzi (IC50 = 3.39 and 1.98 µg mL−1, respectively) without cytotoxic effect on a human cell line. None of the selected plants showed significant activity against Gram-negative or Gram-positive bacteria or Candida albicans. Verbascoside, a phenyl propanoid glycoside isolated from the leaves of C. chinense, showed marginal activity against T. cruzi. Rengyolone, a cyclohexyl ethanoid isolated from the leaves of C. chinense, showed a broad but not specific activity against the tested organisms.

Botanical identity of plant sources of Daśamūla drugs through an analysis of published literature

Background:Daśamūla (DM) is a top-traded group of medicinal plants used by the Ayurvedic industry. Through literature survey and analysis, this article has enlisted the botanical sources of DM, as correlated by several scholars. Such a list is not available from any single, earlier publication. It brings to light the confusion that exists in terms of botanical sources correlated to Ayurvedic entities. There is quite a bit of difference in the botanical correlation, parts, and substitutes reported in the different scholarly works, particularly for Pṛṣṇiparṇī, and Agnimantha. For e.g., is Uraria picta the original intended Pṛṣṇiparṇī, as the Ayurvedic Formulary of India (AFI) stipulates or is it U. lagopoidiodes or Desmodium gangeticum as other scholars report? While AFI provides two botanical correlations to Agnimantha in its two editions, namely Premna integrifolia and Clerodendrum phlomidis, other scholars correlate it to other Premna and Clerodendrum species. Why has AFI provided stem bark and whole plant as substitutes for roots of DM? Are substitutes recommended by AFI only for ecological or practical convenience or is there an Ayurvedic or pharmacological explanation for the same?Aim:There are many species used in the name of Daśamūla,, in this article all the species are listed out to find the differences in the usage of the drugs.Materials and Methods:Ayurveda texts and lexicons along with the texts which have done correlation work were considered to arrive at a list of various species used as Dasmula.Results and Conclusion:Since neither the methodology nor the logic behind the correlation have been discussed in these scholarly works, including the AFI, the same is not available for analysis or scrutiny. Such a list as provided in this article can form an essential base for a much needed systematic approach at etymological analysis, botanical correlation, and further scientific work to establish legitimacy of substitutes prescribed.