Genus Blepharis (Acanthaceae): A review of ethnomedicinally used species, and their phytochemistry and pharmacological activities

Amina Ibrahim Dirar; Anjana Adhikari-Devkota; Ripu Mardhan Kunwar; Keshav Raj Paudel; Tarun Belwal; Gaurav Gupta; Dinesh Kumar Chellappan; Philip Michael Hansbro; Kamal Dua; Hari Prasad Devkota

doi:10.1016/j.jep.2020.113255

Genus Blepharis (Acanthaceae): A review of ethnomedicinally used species, and their phytochemistry and pharmacological activities

J Ethnopharmacol. 2021 Jan 30:265:113255. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2020.113255. Epub 2020 Aug 13.

Affiliations

¹ Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kumamoto University, 5-1 Oe-honmachi, Chuo-ku, Kumamoto City, Kumamoto, 862-0973, Japan; Medicinal, Aromatic Plants and Traditional Medicine Research Institute (MAPTRI), National Center for Research, P.O. Box 2404, Mek Nimr Street, Khartoum, Sudan; Faculty of Clinical and Industrial Pharmacy, National University-Sudan, P.O. Box 3783, Al-Raki Area, Khartoum, Sudan.
² Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kumamoto University, 5-1 Oe-honmachi, Chuo-ku, Kumamoto City, Kumamoto, 862-0973, Japan.
³ Ethnobotanical Society of Nepal, Kathmandu, 44600, Nepal.
⁴ Centre for Inflammation, Centenary Institute, Sydney, NSW 2050, Australia; Faculty of Science, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia.
⁵ Key Laboratory for Agro-Products Postharvest Handling of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Agro-Food Processing, College of Biosystems Engineering and Food Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China.
⁶ School of Pharmacy, Suresh Gyan Vihar University, Jaipur, India.
⁷ Department of Life Sciences, School of Pharmacy, International Medical University, Kuala Lumpur, 57000, Malaysia.
⁸ Centre for Inflammation, Centenary Institute, Sydney, NSW 2050, Australia; Faculty of Science, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia; Priority Research Centre for Healthy Lungs, Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI) & School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, 2308, Australia.
⁹ Centre for Inflammation, Centenary Institute, Sydney, NSW 2050, Australia; Priority Research Centre for Healthy Lungs, Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI) & School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, 2308, Australia; Discipline of Pharmacy, Graduate School of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, 2007, Australia.
¹⁰ Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kumamoto University, 5-1 Oe-honmachi, Chuo-ku, Kumamoto City, Kumamoto, 862-0973, Japan; Program for Leading Graduate Schools, Health Life Science: Interdisciplinary and Glocal Oriented (HIGO) Program, 5-1 Oe-honmachi, Chuo-ku, Kumamoto, 862-0973, Japan. Electronic address: devkotah@kumamoto-u.ac.jp.

PMID: 32798615
DOI: 10.1016/j.jep.2020.113255

Abstract

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Blepharis is an Afro-Asiatic genus belonging to the family Acanthaceae. It comprises about 126 species that occur in arid and semi-arid habitats. Some species of Blepharis are used in traditional medicines in different countries mainly for their anti-inflammatory, wound healing activities along with treatment of gastrointestinal disorders and bone fractures.

Aim of the review: The present review aims to collate and analyze the available data and information on distribution, traditional uses, chemical constituents and pharmacological activities of Blepharis.

Methods: Scientific information of genus Blepharis was retrieved from the online bibliographic databases such as MEDLINE/PubMed, SciFinder, Web of Science and Google Scholar and secondary resources including books and proceedings.

Results: Seven species of Blepharis were found to be reported frequently as useful in folklore in African and Asian countries. B. maderaspatensis was found to be widely used in Indian traditional medicines whereas the B. ciliaris and B. edulis were common in folklore of Egypt, Jordan, and Arabia. Active phytochemicals of Blepharis are flavonoids from B. ciliaris, alkaloids from B. sindica, phenolic acid derivatives, and phytosterols, and derivatives of hydroxamic acids from B. edulis resulted in possessing diverse biological properties such as anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer.

Conclusions: Various species of Blepharis were found to be used in traditional medicine systems in African and Asian countries. Few of these species were studied for their bioactive chemical constituents however the activity guided isolation studies are not performed. Similarly, detailed pharmacological studies in animal models to explore their mechanism of action are also not reported. Future studies should focus on these aspects related to the medicinally used species of Blepharis. The detailed and comprehensive comparative analysis presented here gives valuable information of the currently used Blepharis species and pave the way to investigate other useful species of Blepharis pertaining to ethnobotany, phytochemistry and discovery of new drugs.

Keywords: Acanthaceae; Bioactive compounds; Blepharis; Ethnomedicine; Pharmacology.

Publication types

Systematic Review

MeSH terms

Acanthaceae / chemistry*
Animals
Ethnobotany
Ethnopharmacology
Humans
Medicine, Traditional*
Phytochemicals / chemistry
Phytochemicals / pharmacology
Phytotherapy
Plant Preparations / chemistry
Plant Preparations / pharmacology*

Substances

Phytochemicals
Plant Preparations