Moroccan Medicinal Plants Used to Treat Cancer: Ethnomedicinal Study and Insights into Pharmacological Evidence

Naoufal El Hachlafi; Nesrine Benkhaira; Mohamed Ferioun; Fahd Kandsi; Mohamed Jeddi; Abderrahim Chebat; Mohamed Addi; Christophe Hano; Kawtar Fikri-Benbrahim

doi:10.1155/2022/1645265

Moroccan Medicinal Plants Used to Treat Cancer: Ethnomedicinal Study and Insights into Pharmacological Evidence

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2022 Oct 25:2022:1645265. doi: 10.1155/2022/1645265. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Microbial Biotechnology and Bioactive Molecules, Faculty of Sciences and Technologies Faculty, Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, P.O. Box 2202, Imouzzer Road, Fez, Morocco.
² Laboratory of Natural Resources and Environmental, Faculty of Polydisciplinary of Taza, Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Fez, Morocco.
³ Laboratory of Bioresources, Biotechnology, Ethnopharmacology and Health, Faculty of Sciences, Mohammed First University, B. P. 717, Oujda 60000, Morocco.
⁴ Moroccan Anti Poison and Pharmacovigilance Center, P.O. Box 6671, Rabat, Morocco.
⁵ Laboratoire d'Amélioration des Productions Agricoles, Biotechnologie et Environnement (LAPABE), Faculté des Sciences, Université Mohammed Premier, Oujda 60000, Morocco.
⁶ Laboratoire de Biologie des Ligneux et des Grandes Cultures, INRAE USC1328, Uni-versity of Orleans, CEDEX 2, Orléans 45067, France.
⁷ Le Studium Institute for Advanced Studies, 1 Rue Dupanloup, Orléans 45000, France.

Abstract

Cancer is one of the major medical challenges, with an unacceptably high death toll worldwide. In Morocco, medicinal plants continue to play a pivotal therapeutic role despite the development of modern sanitation systems. In the current study, an ethnobotanical survey was carried out at the Moroccan national institute of oncology, Rabat, and we aimed at (1) establishing an exhaustive inventory of indigenous knowledge of Moroccan medicinal plants used to manage cancer and (2) confirming the reported ethnopharmacological uses through bibliometric review. An ethnobotanical survey was conducted with 291 cancer patients at the Moroccan National Institute of Oncology, Rabat, during a period of 4 months, from February to May 2019, through semistructured interviews. Ethnobotanical indices, including informant consensus factor (FIC), use report (UR), relative frequency citation (RFC), botanical family use value (FUV), fidelity level (FL), and index of agreement on remedies (IAR), were employed in data analyses. The survey revealed that 39 medicinal plants belonging to 27 botanical families and 38 genera were used to treat cancer. The most used ethnospecies were Aristolochia longa with the highest RFC value (0.096), followed by Nigella sativa, Ephedra alata, Euphorbia resinifera, and Lavandula dentata, éwith RFC values of 0.072, 0.054, 0.044, and 0.044, respectively. In regard to the plant families, Lamiaceae contributed the highest number of plants with five species (FUV = 0.034), followed by Asteraceae (4 species; FUV = 0.020), and Fabaceae (4 species; FUV = 0.020). The leaves are the most popular plant part used by the studied population against cancer; otherwise, decoction was the most commonly used method for remedy preparation and the highest FIC was noticed for uterine cancer treatment (0.86). Considering these findings, further investigations into the recorded plant species should be performed to assess phytochemical constituents and pharmaceutical benefits in order to identify their active compounds for any drug formulations.