Alstonia scholaris: It′s Phytochemistry and pharmacology

Abstract

Complementary therapies based on herbal medicines are the world's oldest form of medicine and recent reports suggest that such therapies still enjoy vast popularity, especially in developing countries where most of the population does not have easy access to modern medicine. Alstonia scholaris (L.) R.Br (Apocynaceae) is an evergreen tropical tree native to Indian sub-continent and South East Asia, having grayish rough bark and milky sap rich in poisonous alkaloid. It is reported to contain various iridoids, alkaloids, coumarins, flavonoids, leucoanthocyanins, reducing sugars, simple phenolics, steroids, saponins and tannins. It has been reported to possess antimicrobial, antiamoebic, antidiarrheal, antiplasmodial, hepatoprotective, immunomodulatory, anticancer, antiasthmatic, free radical scavenging, antioxidant, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antiulcer, antifertility and wound healing activities. In other parts of the world, it is used as a source cure against bacterial infection, malarial fever, toothache, rheumatism, snakebite, dysentery, bowl disorder, etc. Reports on the pharmacological activities of many isolated constituents from A. scholaris (L.) R.Br are lacking, which warrants further pharmacological studies.

Solution and Solid‐State Analysis of Binding of 13‐Substituted Berberine Analogues to Human Telomeric G‐quadruplexes

“…[2] The folding of single-stranded telomeric DNA into aG 4s tructure inhibits telomerase, an enzyme highly overexpressed in cancerc ells that effectively makes them immortalb yp reventing telomeres hortening and, as ac onsequence, cell senescence. [3] Moreover, the biological relevance of G4, supported by the direct visualization of G4 DNAs and RNAs in human cells, [4] has attracted great interest. Many efforts were addressed to searchl igand compounds able to inducea nd stabilizet elomeric G4 [5] and able to selectively targetG -quadruplexes over dsDNA,i no rder to decrease the debilitating collateral effects which are normally associated with classical chemotherapies.…”

Silica-Based Monolithic Coupled Column for the Simultaneous Determination of Echitamine, Nb-Demethylalstogustine, and Loganetin in Alstonia scholaris by RP-HPLC and Optimization of Extraction Method

“…[6] The plant contains a variety of active constituents such as alkaloids, triterpenoids, iridoids, coumarins, flavonoids, steroids, saponins, and tannins. [4] Among these indole alkaloids, echitamine (1), and N b -demethylalstogustine (2) were, respectively, isolated as major and minor constituents whereas loganetin (3) has been isolated for the first time from the bark of A. scholaris. Echitamine (1) exhibited significant in vitro antitumor activity [7] against HeLa, HepG2, HL60, KB, and MCF-7 cancer cell lines which showed Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC) in mice.…”

“…[1,2] The bark is traditionally used by many ethnic groups of North East India and other parts of the world for treating bacterial infection, malarial fever, toothache, rheumatism, snakebite, dysentery, and bowel disorder. [3,4] The bark is also used as an anti-inflammatory, anthelmintic, antiperiodic, and an antispasmodic, and for treating tuberculosis, leprosy, dyspepsia, and asthma. [5] It is also used as a commercial antimalarial ayurvedic drug ''Ayush-64''.…”

Two new triterpenes fromAlstonia scholarisflowers

“…The plant A. scholaris has been used in different systems of traditional medication for the treatment of human diseases and ailments (Kaushik, Kaushik, Sharma, & Rana, 2011, Dev, 2011. It is reported to contain various alkaloids, flavonoids and phenolic acids.…”