Phytochemical and pharmacological notes of plants indicated to treat tumors in Brazil

Abstract

Abstract:The plants used in traditional medicine have been considered an important source of molecules with pharmacological activity, including antitumor. The aim of this study was to present a pharmacological description and the phytochemical components related to antitumor activity of thirty plants commonly cited in Brazil to treat tumors as well as offering an overview of approaches that are necessary for the development of herbal medicines from these resources. In the search for studies with these plants, fi ve database were used (SciELO, Scirus, Scopus, Biological Abstracts and Web of Science), with the following keywords: tumor AND Species AND cancer. We consider all the scientifi c synonyms of species available in the Tropicos ® database (http://www.tropicos. org/). We surveyed papers from the period between 1980 and 2008. Twnety one species (70%) have at least one evaluation of a class of molecule or metabolite isolated against a pharmacological model. Most species (60%) has in vivo studies. Of the thirty plant species, two stood out for having pharmacological studies in vitro, in vivo and clinical with positive results: Chelidonium majus L., Papaveraceae, and Aloe arborescens Mill., Xanthorrhoeaceae. Although there is generally a good activity of species presented here, there is a need for further studies in order to evaluate the possibility of developing some byproduct.

Banafsha (Viola odorata L.), an important drug of Unani System of Medicine with recent advances

“…In addition, a macrocyclic peptide isolated from Viola odorata, called cycloviolacin O 2 , exhibited in vitro cytotoxic activity against ten different cancer cell lines, including myeloma, leukemia, small-cell lung cancer, lymphoma and renal adenocarcinoma. It gave better results than the antitumor drugs which are currently in clinical use [42] .…”

“…In an in vitro study Viola odorata significantly decreased cell survival in triple negative human breast cancer cells (MDA-MB-468) [42] . The effect of higher dose of Viola odorata extract on mitosis and meiosis of Vicia faba shows that it has a clastogenic effect on root tip cells as well as buds [41] .…”