Parasitic Mistletoes of the Genera Scurrula and Viscum: From Bench to Bedside

Abstract

Abstract:The mistletoes, stem hemiparasites of Asia and Europe, have been used as medicinal herbs for many years and possess sophisticated systems to obtain nutrients from their host plants. Although knowledge about ethnomedicinal uses of mistletoes is prevalent in Asia, systematic scientific study of these plants is still lacking, unlike its European counterparts. This review aims to evaluate the literature on Scurrula and Viscum mistletoes. Both mistletoes were found to have anticancer, antimicrobial, antioxidant and antihypertensive properties. Plants from the genus Scurrula were found to inhibit cancer growth due to presence of phytoconstituents such as quercetin and fatty acid chains. Similar to plants from the genus Viscum, Scurrula also possesses TNFα activity to strengthen the immune system to combat cancer. In line with its anticancer activity, both mistletoes are rich in antioxidants that confer protection against cancer as well as neurodegeneration. Extracts from plants of both genera showed evidence of vasodilation and thus, antihypertensive effects. Other therapeutic effects such as weight loss, postpartum and gastrointestinal healing from different plants of the genus Scurrula are documented. As the therapeutic effects of plants from Scurrula are still in exploration stage, there is currently no known clinical trial on these plants. However, there are few on-going clinical trials for Viscum album that demonstrate the functionalities of these mistletoes. Future work required for exploring the benefits of these plants and ways to develop both parasitic plants as a source of pharmacological drug are explained in this article.

THE ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY AND PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING OF ETHANOL EXTRACT, FRACTIONS OF WATER, ETHYL ACETATE AND n-HEXANE FROM MISTLETOE TEA (SCURRULA ATROPURPUREABL. DANS)

“…The Scurrula species has not been extensively studied in terms of its phytochemistry [6]. Flavonols to be present in the Scurrula species reported by three articles [20][21][22].…”

“…The tea mistletoe also traditionally used to decrease high blood pressure [3], antimicrobial activities against four bacterial strains (Bacillus subtilis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Vibrio cholerae, and Escherichia coli) [4]. Mistletoe preparations have been used medicinally in Europe for centuries to treat epilepsy, infertility, hypertension, and arthritis [5,6].…”

The Mexican mistletoe Struthanthus venetus (HBK Blume) inhibits proliferation and synergizes antagonistic actions of Tamoxifen and Fulvestrant in breast cancer MCF-7 cells

“…Anti-cancer activity of the mistletoe genuses Scurrula and Viscum has previously been described and attributed to the presence of antioxidant phytoconstituents such as quercetin, which confers protection against cancer and neurodegeneration (Lim et al, 2016). Diverse constituents have been described among other mistletoe species including: lectins and viscotoxins which exert anti-tumor effects by inducing cell cycle arrest, increasing apoptosis, inhibiting angiogenesis, and potentiating immune responses (Osadebe and Omeje, 2009).…”

“…In patients, an increase in health-related quality of life, remission rate, survival time, and alleviating adverse reactions to conventional breast cancer therapy has been previously described (Marvibaigi et al, 2014). The related mistletoe genuses Scurrula and Viscum have also been described to possess anticancer, antioxidant and antihypertensive properties (Lim et al, 2016).…”

“…They are hemi-parasitic plants widely distributed around the world. Taxonomically, they belong to the families Misodendraceae, Loranthaceae, Santalaceae, Viscaceae among others, which are grouped in the order Santalales (Lim et al, 2016;Patel and Panda, 2014). The mistletoe Struthanthus venetus' taxonomic classification is: Phylum Plantae > Subphylum Magnoliophyta > Class Magnoliopsida > Order Santalales > Family Loranthaceae > Genus Struthanthus > Species venetus.…”