Pharmacognostical and Phytochemical Evaluation of a Unani Polyherbal Formulation: Dawa ul Kurkum by HPTLC

Abstract

Background: Dawa ul Kurkum (Duk) is a widely used Unani formulation. It consists of seven plant herbs, including stigmas of Crocus sativus L., rhizomes of Nardostachys jatamansi (D.Don) DC., the bark of Cinnamomum cassia (L.) J. Presl., shoot of Cymbopogon jwarancusa (Jones ex Roxb.) Schult., the resin of Commiphora wightii (Arn.) Bhandari, roots of Saussurea lappa (Decne.) Sch.Bip., and bark of Cinnamomum zeylanicum Blume. However, no study has been previously conducted to characterize this formulation. Thus, the present study was designed to carry out the pharmacognostic and phytochemical characterization of Duk. Methods: Duk was prepared following the protocols in Bayaz e Kabeer and The National Formulary of Unani Medicine Part-I. The characterization included organoleptic properties, fluorescence analysis, preliminary phytochemical screening, antioxidant activity, and active constituent profiling using HPTLC. Results: Evaluation of Duk showed the presence of carbohydrates, flavonoids, quinones, glycosides, cardiac glycosides, terpenoids, phenols, coumarin, steroids, and phytosterols. The total phenolic and flavonoid content was 5.75 ± 0.23 mg GAE/g and 10 ± 0.18 mg QUE/g, respectively. HPTLC of Duk showed the presence of p-coumaric acid, cinnamaldehyde, citral, crocin, isovaleric acid, guggulsterone, and dehydrocostus lactone. Conclusions: Our findings supported the use of Duk as a conventional medicine, and these results could be used as a reference for the standardization of Duk.

Anti-cancer activity of guggulsterone by modulating apoptotic markers: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Bioactive compounds have several action mechanisms involved in the induction of cancer cell apoptosis. In tumor cells, they function via modulating the extrinsic and intrinsic pathways of apoptosis, channeling important cell signaling pathways such as mTOR-AKT, Ras/NF-κβ, ROS/JNK, JAK/STAT, and Src/Fak and regulating gene expression ( Huang et al, 2018 ; Gupta et al, 2021 ; Gupta et al, 2022a ; Gupta et al, 2022b ; Gupta et al, 2023 ). Treatment with Guggulsterone also altered the expression of different gene families which collaborate in the induction of apoptosis.…”

Z-Guggulsterone Is a Potential Lead Molecule of Dawa-ul-Kurkum against Hepatocellular Carcinoma

“…Previously, we reported that DuK exhibited excellent antioxidant activity and significantly reduced the viability of liver cancer cell lines (HepG2, Hep3B and Huh7) without affecting the viability of parent liver cells. DuK was phytochemically standardized using HPTLC with respect to marker constituents present in materials from seven individual plants [14]. DuK was further found to be effective against a diethyl nitrosamine (DEN)-induced HCC model in male Wistar rats.…”

“…In search of the lead molecule of Duk, we used a structure-based in silico molecular docking approach with AutoDock Vina and predicted the interactions between the pharmacologically active components of DuK and the 32 selected proteins. Based on a literature search, these proteins were selected in accordance with their roles in HCC development (2), progression (14), suppression (6) and ER stress (10). The results were then validated using in vitro studies, MD simulations and qRTPCR.…”