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Inventi Rapid: Ethnopharmacology Vol. 2013, Issue 1[ISSN 0976-3805]

2013 pep 770, CCC: $10 Inventi Journals (P) LtdPublished on Web 12/01/2013, www.inventi.in

REVIEW ARTICLE

INTRODUCTION

Leea indica (L. indica) is widely spread in the forests oftropical and subtropical India. It is a perennial shrub withstout, soft wooded, glabrous stems. The whole plant is usedtraditionally for headache, body pains and skin complaints.[1, 2]

The leaves and roots of L. indica are used to treatdiabetes, cardiac diseases, and various ailments such asfever, headache, dizziness, soreness, eczema, sprain,leprosy, bone fracture, body pain, muscle spasm, diarrhea,and dysentery. [3-9]For L. indica, it is used as an ingredientin the preparation to treat leucorrhea, intestinal cancer,and uterus cancer. [10] The leaf decoction is consumed bywomen during pregnancy and delivery for birth control ortotreat obstetric diseases and body pain.[11-10]In addition,the dried leaves are consumed as a tea beverage and arebelieved to be effective against cancer. [12] Its leaves androots are reportedly of medicinal value. The leaves areuseful for the treatment of diabetes and the ointment

prepared from roasted leaves relieves vertigo.[13-14]Its rootis used as a sudorific, antidiarrhoeal, antidysenteric,antispasmodic and to treat cardiac and skin diseases.[13-14]A number of compounds have been reported from plantsbelonging to the genus Leea. The methanolic extract of L.indica was reported to possess strong antioxidant activity.[2] Plants provide us with broad spectrum of biologicallyactive compounds that have potential therapeutic effectson a myriad of diseases. L. indica (Burm. f.) Merrill is atraditional Chinese medicine which belongs to the Leeaceaefamily. It is a perennial shrub which is widely grown intropical and subtropical countries such as Malaysia, China,India, and Thailand. In view of that, some phytochemicalstudies have been conducted. [1-3] For biological studies,antimicrobial, antioxidant, antiinflammatory, hypoglycemic,and phosphodiesterase inhibitory activities have beenreported in L. indica. [2-9] In Leeaceae family, L.guineenseand L. macrophylla were ethnomedicinally used to treatcancer. [15-16]

Plant Description

L. indica (Burm. f.) Merrill (Leeaceae) is a medicinal plantwidely distributed in tropical and subtropical places such

1Department of Pharmacology, Rayat College of Pharmacy, Railmajra, NearRopar, Nawanshahr-144533, Punjab, India.E-mail: [email protected]*Corresponding author

as China, India, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia. Anevergreen large shrub, growing up to 8 meters in height.Leaves large, compound, imparipinnate, leaflets oblong orelliptic-oblong, irregularly serrate, flowers It has manylocal common names such as Bandicoot berry (English);

Memali (Malay); huo tong shu (Chinese); katangbai (Thai);Hastipalash (India).

Scientific Classification

Kingdom: Plantae

Phylum: Magnoliophyta

Order: Vitales

Family: leeaceae

Genus: Leea

Species: L .indica

Binomial name: L. indica (Burm. F.) Merr.

Synonyms

L. indica,Bandicoot berry and hastipalsh.

General Description

English Name: Bandicoot berry

Chinese Name: huo tong su

Sanskrit Name: Chatri, Kukkurajihva

Hindi Name: Hastipalash

Parts Used: Roots, leaves

Traditional Uses

Plant widely used in diarrhea, dysentery, colic, ulcers, skindiseases, vertigo, and headache. The leaves and roots of L.

indica are used to treat diabetes, cardiac diseases, andvarious ailments such as fever, headache, dizziness,soreness, eczema, sprain, leprosy, bone fracture, body pain,muscle spasm, diarrhea, and dysentery. [1-6]It is used as aningredientin the preparation to treat leucorrhea, intestinalcancer, and uterus cancer. [6]The leaf decoction is consumedby women during pregnancy and delivery for birth controlor totreat obstetric diseases and body pain. [1, 6]

Morphology of Plant

It is usually a shrub, treelet, or small tree, 216 m tall, andcan be single-stemmed, although multi-stemmed

specimens with numerous stilt roots are more oftenobserved. [17-18]The stems are glabrous to pubescent. Theleaves of this species are 13-pinnate, bearing 7 leaflets,

A Phytopharmacological Review on an Important Medicinal

Plant: Leea indica

Souravh Bais1*

Abstracts: Leea indicais used for long period in various chronic diseases therapeutically. Aim of the current review is to searchliterature for the pharmacological properties, safety/toxicity studies, pharmacognostic studies and phytochemical investigationof Leea indica. The compiled data may be helpful for the researchers to focus on the priority areas of research yet to bediscovered. Complete information about the plant has been collected from various books, journals etc. Journals of the last 20years were searched. Particulars of pharmacological activities, phytochemical isolation, toxicity studies etc. were extracted fromthe published reports focusing on the safety profile of the plant. Safety of the whole plant was concluded in the review.

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REVIEW ARTICLE

with petioles 720 cm long. The leaflets are ovate-lanceolate, 523.5 cm long by 39 cm wide, glabrous to

slightly hairy, with crenate to serrate margins, and withpetiolules up to 3 cm long. The stipules are obovate up to 5cm long and 3 cm wide, usually glabrous to pubescent. Theinflorescences are 525 cm long, usually broad and rarelycondensed, and are glabrous to slightly pubescent, withtriangular to deltoidal bracts, and with peduncles up to 20cm long. The flowers are greenish white and are about 5mm across , and have fruits which are about 1 cm indiameter that turn purplish black when ripe and usuallybearing six seeds.

Distribution

The plant is cultivated largely throughout India and also

found wild from Punjab to West Bengal, Assam, Konkan,Dekkan, Rampa Hills. It is also cultivated in China. Thisspecies has extremely large ecological amplitude and isextremely widespread: it is found in back mangroves,secondary forests, primary forests in the lowlands and wetridges up to 1,700 m in altitude. In Singapore, this speciesis found in many habitats: in coastal vegetation, backmangroves, secondary forests, freshwater swamp forestsnear the edges or in gaps, and also in the undergrowth ofprimary forests.

Ayurvedic Properties

Rasa: Kashaya, Tikta Guna: Lakhu Virya: Seeta

PhytochemicalInvestigationThere are limited phytochemical studies reported on L.indica leaves [8, 9, 13-16]and essential oil of flowers. [19]Emranet al., carried out on the plant samples revealed thepresence of medicinally active metabolites. Thephytochemical characters of both the plants investigated.Qualitative secondary metabolite tests showed that L.indica possess alkaloid, terpenoids, steroids and flavonoids.Srinivasan G V et al.,(2009) identified compounds include

eleven hydrocarbons, phthalic acid, palmitic acid, 1-eicosanol, solanesol, farnesol, three phthalic acid esters,gallic acid, lupeol, beta-sitosterol and ursolic acid. Gallic

acid was isolated as n-butyl gallate and identified by co-TLC. This seems to be the first report of the presence of

gallic acid in the leaves of L. indica. [19]

Pharmacognostic Studies

Macroscopic

Plant is evergreen large shrub, growing up to 8 meters inheight. Leaves large, compound, imparipinnate, leafletsoblong or elliptic-oblong, irregularly serrate, flowerswhite in corymbose cymes, fruits black or purple globularberries. [9]

Microscopic

Najmaddin et al., (2009) studied the taxonomy andanatomy of L. Indicaleaf.

PharmacologicalStudiesToxicity Studies

Md. Obayed Raihanet al. in 2012, found that the methanolicextract is safe to be used at a therapeutic dose of 30 mg/kg,i.p. The LD50was found to be 300 mg/kg in mice.[20]

Analgesic Activity

The ethanol extract was evaluated in the formalin andacetic acid-induced writhing test for its analgesic activity.The centrally acting analgesics generally elevate the painthreshold of mice towards heat. The extract significantlydelayed the response time to thermal pain sensation intail flick method indicating narcotic involvements.Moreover, since the extract inhibited both peripheral andcentral mechanisms of pain, it is possible that the extractacted on opioid receptor. [21-22] Therefore, the significantpain reduction of the plant extract may be due to thepresence of analgesic principles acting with theprostaglandin pathways or interfering with othermediators responsible for peripheral pain. The formalintest is another reliable model of analgesic which is bettercorrelated with clinical pain. This method elucidatescentral and peripheral activities. The response of earlyphase is supposed to represent a direct chemical

stimulation of pain, due to the irritant effect of formalinon sensory C fibers.[23, 24]The late phase response is mostlikely secondary to the development of an inflammatory

Table 1: Microscopic Study of L. IndicaLeaf

S. No.Transverse Sections

(TS)Present Absent

1 StemIn cortex layer, collenchymas tissue is present, vascular bundle is closedand surrounded by a fiber layer, secretory cells are present. Drusescrystals, Raphid Crystals and trichomes are present.

Starch grains

2 PetioleCollenchyma is present in cortex, vascular bundle is closed, druses crystalspresent. Druses crystals, Raphid Crystals and trichomes are present

Starch grains

3 MidribThe outline of the adaxial surface is slightly humped and the abaxial surfaceis arc shaped. Druses crystals, Raphid Crystals and secretary cells arepresent

Trichomes

4 MarginIt is straight with slightly downwards and the tip is rounded or taperingand secretary cells are present.

Trichomes

5 LaminaPalisade consists of two layers. Epidermis is uniserate and its outline issmooth or has trichomes; raphide, druses crystals and secretory cells arepresent.

Trichomes

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REVIEW ARTICLE

response and the release of allergic mediators. [25]Inhibition of licking response of the test drugs in the earlyphase and late phase signifying the analgesic effect of theextract in the formalin test. Results of the studydemonstrated that ethanol extract of L. indica leaf exertspotential analgesic effect in experimental animal models,

which support the claims by traditional medicinepractitioners. On the basis of the results, it can be used asa good source of analgesic drugs.

Antimicrobial Activity

G V Shrinivasan et al., (2009) has reported the antibacterialand anti fungal activity of the essential oil of L. Indicaflower and it is due to the higher percentage of pthalates init. Guiaiacol, anethole and 3 H pyrazole are reported tohave antibacterial, antifungal activities. The presence ofthese compounds increases the antimicrobial potentiatingof essential oil of L. Indica flower.

Antioxidant Activity

The antioxidant, cytotoxic and phytochemical properties ofethanol extract of L. indica (Burm. f.) Merr., (Family:Leeaceae) leaf has been investigated in the present study.The antioxidant and cytotoxic activity of the L. indicaethanol extract were assessed by DPPH (1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) free radical scavenging method and brineshrimp lethality bioassay method, respectively. Leaf extractshowed significant DPPH free radical scavenging effectcompared with standard antioxidant ascorbic acid. IC50value of ascorbic acid and leaf extract was found 1.468g/ml and 139.837 g/ml, respectively. In brine shrimp

lethality bioassay LC50 value of L. indica ethanol extractwas found 2.4771 g/ml with 95 % confidence limitwhere the lower and upper limits were 2.2561 and 2.6981g/ml respectively, which indicates that the leaf extracthas promising cytotoxic effect. The present, demonstratesthat methanol extract of L. indica leaf has significantantioxidant and cytotoxic effect. This herb shows seasonaland varietal variation in the quantity of secondarymetabolites. [26]

Antitumor Activity

Md. Obayed Raihan et al., (2011) studied the crudemethanolic extract of the leaves of L. indica (L. indica) for

their anti tumor, and cytotoxic activity. In vivo anti tumoractivity was studied against Ehrlich Ascites Carcinoma(EAC) cells in Swiss albino mice by monitoring parameterslike tumor weight measurement, survival time and tumorcell growth inhibition. It has been found that the compoundat the dose of 40 mg/kg/day (i.p) significantly decreasestumor weight, increases life span and reduces tumor cellgrowth rate in comparison to those of EAC bearing micereceiving no extract. Bleomycin was used as a positivecontrol (0.3 mg /kg). The cytotoxic activity of the extractwas assessed by brine shrimp lethality bioassay techniquewhich showed significant result (LC50 less than 25

g/ml). Anti tumor properties of L.indica could be linkedwith the presence of these antioxidant and cytotoxicactivity. [27]

CNS Activities

The sedative and anxiolytic potential of L. indica (Burm. f.)Merr., a Bangladeshi tribal medicinal plant was studied forthe first time. The crude methanol extract of L. indicaleaveswas evaluated for its central nervous system (CNS)depressant effect using rodent behavioral models, such as

hole cross, open field and thiopental sodium inducedsleeping time tests for its sedative properties and anelevated plus-maze (EPM) test for its anxiolytic potential,respectively. The methanol extract of L. indica at doses of200 mg/kg, p.o. and 400 mg/kg, p.o., displayed a dosedependent suppression of motor activity, exploratorybehavior (in hole cross and open field tests) andprolongation of thiopental induced sleeping time in mice;the highest CNS depressant effect was shown at a dose of400 mg/kg, p.o. In the EPM test, both doses of methanolextract significantly (p < 0.01) increased exploration to andtime spent by the treated mice in EPM open arms in a dosedependent manner. These results provide in-vivo evidencethat leaves of L. indica in general have significant sedativeand anxiolytic effects. However, these results mayrationalize the scientific basis for use of this plant intraditional medicine for treatment of anxiety and relateddisorders.[28]

Phosphodiesterase Inhibitory Activity

Phosphodiesterases (PDEs) are a group of enzymes thathave powerful effects on cellular signaling because theyregulate the second messenger, cAMP or cGMP. PDEinhibitors have been used for treatment of manyindications such as cardiovascular diseases, chronic

obstructive pulmonary diseases, erectile dysfunction andpulmonary hypertension. Seven from nineteen aphrodisiacand neurotonic plants as well as three from twelveLeguminosae plants (L. Indica) showed potent PDEsinhibitory activity. The concentrations that could inhibit 50% PDE activity (IC (50)) of the active extracts weredetermined in comparison to the standard inhibitor, 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine (IBMX). Betula alnoides, Hiptagebenghalensis, Leea indica and Senna surrattensis showedIC (50) values in the range of microgram per milliliter whileIBMX standard showed an IC (50) value of 0.68+/-0.13microg/ml. [15]

CONCLUSION

The above review reveals that the plant is safer at itstherapeutic dose of 300 mg/kg. The plant was found tobe potent analgesic, anti-inflammatory, CNS depressant,antibacterial, antifungal and cytotoxic agent. It was alsoseen that the benzodiazepine receptors may be involvedfor the CNS depressant activity. The phytoconstituentswhich are present in the plant are mainly steroids andflavonoids which are responsible for the actions. Moreresearch is needed to isolate the constituentsresponsible for the biological actions. It was alsoobserved that no clinical trials have been done so far. So

from the current review of literature and ayurvedic textit was concluded that the plant is having high medicinalvalue.

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REVIEW ARTICLE

The traditional and ethno medicinal literatures showedthat the plant is very effective and safe for medicinal uses.By using the reverse pharmacological approaches innatural drug discovery a potent and safe drug can beinvestigated from the plant for various chronic diseaseslike liver diseases, cancer, arthritis, and other inflammatory

diseases.

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Handbook of Medicinal Plants A Complete Source Book,Agrobios (I), Jodhpur, 309310, 2003.

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2-3, 263267, 2004.20. Keng H. The Concise Flora of Singapore: Gymnosperms and

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Cite this article as:Souravh Bais. A PhytopharmacologicalReview on an Important Medicinal Plant: Leea indica.Inventi Rapid: Ethnopharmacology, 2013(1): 1-4, 2013.

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