Chemotherapeutical effects of the herbal medicine Uncaria tomentosa (Willd.) DC.

Abstract

The use of medicinal plants dates back to the beginning of humanity, and today their application as complementary therapy has been widely disseminated as an alternative to conventional therapy. The medicinal plant named Uncaria tomentosa (Willd.) DC. (known as cat's claw) is a common woody vine of the Amazon forest that has traditionally been used in the treatment of arthritis because of its anti-inflammatory properties. This study aimed to evaluate the cytotoxic, mutagenic, and antimutagenic potentials of this medicinal plant. The biological activities of U. tomentosa were determined on bone marrow cells of Wistar rats that were treated in vivo. For the cytotoxic and mutagenic analyses, aqueous plant extract solutions were administered by gavage (1, 2, or 3 mg/mL) for 24 h (an acute treatment) or 7 days (a subchronic treatment). For the antimutagenic analyses, aqueous plant extract solutions (1 mg/mL) were administered by gavage before (pretreatment), simultaneous to (simultaneous treatment), or after (post-treatment), the administration of cyclophosphamide (1.5 mg/mL). U. tomentosa did not show any cytotoxic or mutagenic effects in any of the cytological or chromosomal analyses. Besides, the antimutagenic tests showed that the plant extracts displayed antimutagenic activities, which significantly reduced the percentages of the chromosomal aberrations that were induced by cyclophosphamide at 53.91, 58.60, and 57.03%, respectively, for the simultaneous treatment, pretreatment, and post-treatment. The results suggested a safe use of this herbal medicine that is available free of charge from the Brazilian Public Health System for the treatment of arthritis. This medicinal plant can also effectively contribute to improving the quality of life and the recovery of people undergoing chemotherapeutical treatments.

Changes in Human Erythrocyte Membrane Exposed to Aqueous and Ethanolic Extracts from Uncaria tomentosa

“…Uncaria tomentosa extracts are commonly used to support the treatment of various diseases due to their antioxidant [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ] and immunostimulating [ 5 , 6 ] activities. Extracts from U. tomentosa have also been shown to exhibit anticancer [ 7 , 8 , 9 ], antimutagenic [ 10 , 11 ] and antiherpetic activities [ 11 ].…”

Antimutagenic and antioxidative effects of polysaccharides isolated from the water extract of Ganoderma lucidum

“…Several studies have been actively conducted on natural products to identify antimutagens because they exhibit various physiological activities while being less toxic. Recently, the antimutagenic activity of various natural materials, such as cat's claw and guava, have been reported (Almeida et al, 2017;da Costa et al, 2015;Di Sotto et al, 2015;Gontijo et al, 2018;Nag et al, 2015;Todorova et al, 2015;Zahin et al, 2017).…”

Non-pharmacological remedies for post-viral acute cough

“…The Uncaria has immune-stimulating, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and antimutagenic properties (154). Uncaria is used in phytotherapy in treating chronic inflammatory diseases, immune deficiencies, in the presence of viral infections, and the prevention and treatment of common cold with fever and cough (155,156).…”