Ethnomedicinal uses, phytochemistry and pharmacological aspects of the genus Premna : a review

Abstract

Context: The genus Premna (Lamiaceae), distributed throughout tropical and subtropical Asia, Africa, Australia and the Pacific Islands, is used in folk medicine primarily to treat inflammation, immune-related diseases, stomach disorders, wound healing, and skin diseases. Objectives: This review exhaustively gathers available information on ethnopharmacological uses, phytochemistry, and bioactivity studies on more than 20 species of Premna and critically analyzes the reports to provide the perspectives and directions for future research for the plants as potential source of drug leads and pharmaceutical agents. Methods: A literature search was performed on Premna species based on books of herbal medicine, major scientific databases including Chemical Abstract, Pubmed, SciFinder, Springerlink, Science Direct, Scopus, the Web of Science, Google Scholar, and ethnobotanical databases. Results: More than 250 compounds have been isolated and identified from Premna species, comprising of diterpenoids, iridoid glycosides, and flavonoids as the most common secondary metabolites, followed by sesquiterpenes, lignans, phenylethanoids, megastigmanes, glyceroglycolipids, and ceramides. Many in vitro and in vivo studies have been conducted to evaluate the biological and pharmacological properties of the extracts, and isolated compounds of Premna species with antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, antihyperglycaemia, and cytotoxic activities. Conclusion: The bioactive compounds responsible for the bioactivities of most plants have not been well identified as the reported in vivo pharmacological studies were mostly carried out on the crude extracts. The isolated bioactive components should also be further subjected to more preclinical studies and elaborate toxicity study before clinical trials can be pursued.

Chemical Characteristics and In vitro Antidiabetic and Antioxidant Activities of Premna serratifolia L. Leaf Infusion and Decoction

“…All Premna were reported to have medicinal properties, such as carminative, diuretic, spasmolytic, hypoglycaemic, expectorant and depurative for the treatment of stomach disorders, oedema, constipation, piles and cardiac diseases. 4 Most of the studies used bark, fruit, root, and stem as raw material, whereas only a few report on the bioactivities of P. serratifolia leaves. Recently, bioactive components have been isolated from methanol extracts of the leaves and their bioactivities have been demonstrated.…”

A Review on Two Endemic Species of Genus Premna and their Conservational Importance

“…[667] CODEN (USA): JDDTAO 2015).Ethno medical uses of Premna species can be categorized (i) as anti-inflammatory -either to treat asthma, rheumatism, gout, pains, fevers; (ii) to improve immune system and treat cold and cough; (iii) for stomach disorders such as diarrhoea, dysentery, febrifuge, stomach ache; (iv) for wound healing and treating skin diseases; (v) to treat bacterial (for example, tuberculosis, leuchorrea) and malarial infections; (vi) to treat migraine, headache, and neuralgia problems; and (vii) to treat hypertension, diabetes, liver-and cardiac-related problems (Dianita, 2017). With this small review itself we can conclude that Premna species have proved to be useful in treating various disorders in humans but still there is need of conducting further phytochemical, pharmacognosical and pharmacological studies on these species which can help in future research work (Kabra et al, 2015).…”

Premna Species in Vietnam: Essential Oil Compositions and Mosquito Larvicidal Activities

“…Essential oils from members of this family have demonstrated potential as natural insect pest control agents [ 24 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 ]. The genus Premna L. was formerly included in the family Verbenaceae, but has been reassigned to the Lamiaceae [ 33 ]. The genus is distributed in tropical regions of the Old World, from Africa, eastward through China, Southeast Asia and Malesia, to Australia and islands in the Pacific [ 34 ].…”

“…The number of species has been estimated to be as few as 50, or as many as 200 [ 34 ]. The ethnopharmacology, pharmacognosy, and phytochemistry of the genus have been reviewed [ 33 , 35 , 36 , 37 ]. As part of our ongoing efforts in identifying readily-available essential oils for mosquito control, we have examined the leaf essential oils of eight species of Premna ( Table 1 ) found growing wild in central Vietnam for larvicidal activity against Aedes aegyptae , Aedes albopictus , and Culex quinquefasciatus .…”