A Comprehensive Review on Phytochemistry and Pharmacological Activities of Clinacanthus nutans (Burm.f.) Lindau

Abstract

Clinacanthus nutans (Burm.f.) Lindau (Acanthaceae), commonly known as Sabah snake grass, is a vegetable and a well-known herb that is considered an alternative medicine for insect bites, skin rashes, herpes infection, inflammation, and cancer and for health benefits. Current review aims to provide a well-tabulated repository of the phytochemical screening, identification and quantification, and the pharmacological information of C. nutans according to the experimental design and the plant preparation methods which make it outstanding compared to existing reviews. This review has documented valuable data obtained from all accessible library databases and electronic searches. For the first time we analyzed the presence of flavonoids, triterpenoids, steroids, phytosterols, and glycosides in C. nutans based on the results from phytochemical screening which are then further confirmed by conventional phytochemical isolation methods and advanced spectroscopic techniques. Phytochemical quantification further illustrated that C. nutans is a good source of phenolics and flavonoids. Pharmacological studies on C. nutans revealed that its polar extract could be a promising anti-inflammation, antiviral, anticancer, immune and neuromodulating, and plasmid DNA protective agent; that its semipolar extract could be a promising antiviral, anticancer, and wound healing agent; and that its nonpolar extract could be an excellent anticancer agent.

Subacute Oral Administration of Clinacanthus nutans Ethanolic Leaf Extract Induced Liver and Kidney Toxicities in ICR Mice

“…The results of the LC/MS/MS analyses of the C. nutans ethanolic leaf extract in this study demonstrated the presence of myricetin, orientin, iso-orientin, vitexin, iso-vitexin, isookanin, apigenin and ferulic acid as some of the important bioactive compounds of the plant. However, three of these compounds-myricetin, isookanin and ferulic acid-were additional compounds identified in the C. nutans ethanolic leaf extract cultivated in Pahang-Malaysia, which were not among the compounds identified earlier by Huang et al [17] and Chelyn et al [18], as well as other recent literatures as reported by Khoo et al [31].…”

Antibiotic-Antiapoptotic Dual Function of Clinacanthus nutans (Burm. f.) Lindau Leaf Extracts against Bovine Mastitis

“…C. nutans has been used as a traditional medicine in Southeast Asia, including Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia, for treating skin rashes, snake and insect bite, dysuria, gout, and diabetes [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ]. In Thailand, this plant is in the national list of essential medicines for treatment of herpes simplex and varicella-zoster virus (VZV) infection.…”

“…Previously, various phytochemicals presented in C. nutans extract have been reviewed and a range of phytochemical compounds including flavonoids, triterpenoids, steroids, phytosterols, and glycosides have been demonstrated [ 19 , 20 ]. Only a few studies have reported the biological activities of the compounds identified as potential bioactive compounds in this study, and most of them were related to anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities.…”

The synergism of Clinacanthus nutans Lindau extracts with gemcitabine: downregulation of anti-apoptotic markers in squamous pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

“…There were extensive phytochemistry studies, isolating many compounds from C. nutans, trying to investigate the anti-cancer effects of these isolated compounds. These flavonoids and terpenoids were also commonly isolated from various other plants [41,42].…”

“…Previous study [42] published extensive metabolite profiling of C. nutans extracts. The research team identified betulin, lupeol and beta-sitosterol (Sigma Aldrich, USA) in stem extracts, which were not identified from other C.nutans extracts.…”