Phytochemistry and Pharmacology ofPhyllanthus niruriL.: A Review

Abstract

Phyllanthus niruri, a typical member of family Euphorbiaceae, is a small annual herb found throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of both hemispheres. The genus Phyllanthus has been used in traditional medicine for its wide range of pharmacological activities like antimicrobial, antioxidant, anticancer, antiinflammatory, antiplasmodial, antiviral, diuretic and hepatoprotective. This review summarizes the information about morphological, biochemical, ethanobotanical, pharmacological, biological and toxicological activities with special emphasis on mechanism of anticancer activity of P. niruri. Gaps in previous studies such as taxonomic inconsistency of P. niruri, novel phytochemicals and their therapeutic properties, especially mechanisms of anticancerous activity and market products available, have been looked into and addressed. Scientific information related to 83 phytochemicals (including many novel compounds detected recently by the authors) has been provided in a very comprehensive manner. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Polyherbal Medicine Divya Sarva-Kalp-Kwath Ameliorates Persistent Carbon Tetrachloride Induced Biochemical and Pathological Liver Impairments in Wistar Rats and in HepG2 Cells

“…B. diffusa L. plant extract has been found to modulate CCl 4 induced liver injury in stimulated animals through the reduction of cytochrome (CYP) enzyme activities (Ramachandra et al, 2011;Venkatesh et al, 2012;Bairwa et al, 2013;Patel and Verma, 2014;Ekow Thomford et al, 2018;Juneja et al, 2020). P. niruri L. also known as 'bhumi amalaki' is composed of alkaloids, anthrocyanins, chlorogenic acids, flavonoids, lignans, phenolic acids, tannins, terpenoids, saponins, and substitutes that attribute to its bioactivity (Kaur et al, 2017;Jantan et al, 2019). Metabolites present in the plant extract act as antioxidants reducing CCl 4 stimulated liver injuries in hepatocyte (Syamasundar et al, 1985;Harish and Shivanandappa, 2006;Bhattacharjee and Sil, 2007).…”

Acetylcholinesterase inhibition, antioxidant and identification of some chemical constituents of Phyllanthus atropurpureus cultivated in Egypt

“…IC 50 of the inhibition was derived using non-linear regression analysis on GraphPad Prism V6.0. extracts to be the precipitate from MeOH extract, recording EC 50 value of 21.4 µg/mL which may be attributed to it's phenolic content (Kaur, Kaur, Sirhindi, 2017). In addition The BuOH and water fractions exhibited similar pattern of concentration-response recording EC 50 values of 47.5 and 51.5 µg/mL, respectively.…”

“…The obtained activity of the chloroform extract could be attributed to it's alkaloidal contents which are known to cause AChE inhibition (Elgorashi, Stafford, Van Staden, 2004;Halldorsdottir, Jaroszewski, Olafsdottir, 2010;Kulhankova et al, 2013;Dong et al, 2015;Benamar et al, 2016). Kaur, Kaur, Sirhindi (2017) stated that P. niruri contain alkaloids of neuro-pharmacological activity.…”

“…Also, P. niruri contain many phytochemical constituents like alkaloids, anthocyanins, flavonoids, phenolic acids, lignans and saponins. Combined saponin and alkaloid of the plant showed more potency and may offer an alternative therapeutic agent against bacterial infections (Ajibade, 2014;Kaur, Kaur, Sirhindi, 2017).…”

Promising Medicinal Plants with Diuretic Potential Used in Brazil: State of the Art, Challenges, and Prospects

“…The leaves of Phyllanthus niruri L., which belongs to the Phyllanthaceae family and is popularly known as "quebra-pedra" in Brazil and "gale of the wind" or "stonebreaker" in English, are used as a diuretic to eliminate kidney stones and for renal colic [85][86][87][88]. Its composition includes flavonoids, alkaloids, terpenoids, lignans, polyphenols, tannins, coumarins, and saponins [87][88]. The alkaloids are related to antispasmodic activity, leading to smooth muscle relaxation, mostly evidenced in the urinary tract, which facilitates the elimination of urinary calculi, hence the main application of this species to treat kidney stones [86].…”