Ethnobotanical, Phytochemistry, and Pharmacological Activity of Onosma (Boraginaceae): An Updated Review

Abstract

The genus Onosma belongs to the Boraginaceae family and contains over 230 species. The present review sheds light on the ethnopharmacology, phytoconstituents, bioactivity, and toxicology of the Onosma species from previous investigations. Furthermore, the paper also highlights the unresolved issues for the future investigations. The review included previous studies of the genus Onosma available from Google Scholar and Baidu Scholar, Science Direct, SciFinder, Wiley Online Library, and Web of Science. Until now, more than 200 chemical compounds have been detected from the genus Onosma, including naphthoquinone (33), flavonoids (30), hydrocarbon (23), phenolic (22), ester (17), alkaloids (20), aromatics (12), carboxylic acid (11), fatty acids (9), terpenoids (10), while the most important ones are rosmarinic, ferulic, protocatechuic, chlorogenic, caffeic, p-coumaric acids, and apigenin. The Onosma species are reported as traditional medicine for wound healing, heart disease, and kidney disorders, while the pharmacological investigations revealed that the extracts and the phytochemicals of Onosma species have different therapeutic properties including antioxidant, enzyme inhibitory, antitumor, hepatoprotective, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial actions. The summarized knowledge in this review provides valuable ideas for the current and future drug discovery and a motivation for further investigation on the genus Onosma.

Gastroprotective effects of Polygonatum odoratum in rodents by regulation of apoptotic proteins and inflammatory cytokines

“…Natural products and phytochemicals could benefit or harm human health. Similarly, synthetic drugs could be curative at a certain dosage and hazardous at another dosage ( Jabbar et al, 2022a , Jabbar et al, 2022b , Jabbar et al, 2022c , Jabbar et al, 2022d , Windolf et al, 2022 ). Therefore, to avoid toxicity and find suitable safe dosages of plant products, some quality tests were performed on herbs before they become available for consumers.…”

“…Oxidative stress is a well-known causative of inflammation that results from an imbalance in the formation and excretion of ROS (free radicals), thereby decreasing gastric antioxidants (antiradical enzymes) ( Jabbar et al, 2022a , Jabbar et al, 2022b , Jabbar et al, 2022c , Jabbar et al, 2022d ). Antioxidants including phase 2 enzymes and genes responsible for cell protection (NQO1 and HO-1), were stimulated by Nrf2, known as an effective bio-factor in the reduction of pro-inflammatory and free radical compounds ( Liu et al, 2022 ).…”

“…After 1 h, all rats (except normal control) received alcohol (100% intensity, 5 ml/kg) by oral gavage to induce peptic ulcer. After another hour, rats were given a high dose of ketamine & xylazine, sacrificed, and blood samples were taken by an intracardial perforation for the biochemical investigation ( Jabbar et al, 2022a , Jabbar et al, 2022b , Jabbar et al, 2022c , Jabbar et al, 2022d ).…”

“…The obtained samples were also analyzed to determine the inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-10) by using an ELISA kit (Elabscience, Wuhan, China) based on the producer’s instructions. Estimation of the cytokine strength was performed by utilizing the recombinant sanitized cytokines ( Jabbar et al, 2022a , Jabbar et al, 2022b , Jabbar et al, 2022c , Jabbar et al, 2022d ).…”

Chemopreventive Effects of Onosma mutabilis against Azoxymethane-Induced Colon Cancer in Rats via Amendment of Bax/Bcl-2 and NF-κB Signaling Pathways

“…The genus Onosma is a group of well-known traditional medicinal plants that contain numerous phytochemicals offering different bioactivity against a wide range of moderate and severe human diseases [12,13]. The identified phytochemicals (rosmarinic acid, apigenin-7-O-β-glucoside, and globoidnan A) from O. bourgaei showed significant anticancer efficiency against human colorectal adenocarcinoma HT-29 and human mammary gland adenocarcinoma MCF-7 cells [14].…”