The Genus Alternanthera: Phytochemical and Ethnopharmacological Perspectives

Abstract

Ethnopharmacological relevance: The genus Alternanthera (Amaranthaceae) comprises 139 species including 14 species used traditionally for the treatment of various ailments such as hypertension, pain, inflammation, diabetes, cancer, microbial and mental disorders.Aim of the review: To search research gaps through critical assessment of pharmacological activities not performed to validate traditional claims of various species of Alternanthera. This review will aid natural product researchers in identifying Alternanthera species with therapeutic potential for future investigation.Materials and methods: Scattered raw data on ethnopharmacological, morphological, phytochemical, pharmacological, toxicological, and clinical studies of various species of the genus Alternanthera have been compiled utilizing search engines like SciFinder, Google Scholar, PubMed, Science Direct, and Open J-Gate for 100 years up to April 2021.Results: Few species of Alternanthera genus have been exhaustively investigated phytochemically, and about 129 chemical constituents related to different classes such as flavonoids, steroids, saponins, alkaloids, triterpenoids, glycosides, and phenolic compounds have been isolated from 9 species. Anticancer, antioxidant, antibacterial, CNS depressive, antidiabetic, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulator effects have been explored in the twelve species of the genus. A toxicity study has been conducted on 3 species and a clinical study on 2 species.Conclusions: The available literature on pharmacological studies of Alternanthera species reveals that few species have been selected based on ethnobotanical surveys for scientific validation of their traditional claims. But most of these studies have been conducted on uncharacterized and non-standardized crude extracts. A roadmap of research needs to be developed for the isolation of new bioactive compounds from Alternanthera species, which can emerge out as clinically potential medicines.

Phytochemical Study and In Vitro Biological Activities of Hibiscus panduriformis Burm. f. (Malvaceae), Alternanthera pungens Kunth (Amaranthaceae), and Wissadula rostrata (Schumach.) Hook. f. (Malvaceae)

“…The results are consistent with previous reports [12,28] regarding the total phenol content in W. rostrata. Polyphenol compounds present in Alternanthera pungens were mostly phenolic compounds, confirming other studies [10,29]. Globally, the results indicate that the three plants have a high content of polyphenol compounds.…”

“…is a creeping perennial herbaceous plant with a 10-15 cm long stem with hair [10,11]. Like most Alternanthera species, A. pungens is traditionally used to treat inflammation, pain, infectious diseases, and gastric disorders [10,11]. Wissadula rostrata (Syn.…”

The International Natural Product Sciences Taskforce (INPST) and the power of Twitter networking exemplified through #INPST hashtag analysis

“…Chemical modification of natural product molecules has also yielded multiple clinically relevant drugs such as caspofungin (Walsh et al, 2004), artemether (Hien et al, 1996), or etoposide (Cragg and Pezzuto, 2016;O'Dwyer et al, 1985). As a reflection of the high significance of natural products for the discovery and development of new pharmaceuticals, a high number of natural products or their derivatives are currently in clinical trials for a range of diverse diseases (Ahmad et al, 2021;Lima et al, 2021;Nile and Kai, 2020;Singla et al, 2022aSingla et al, , 2022b. Moreover, multi-component natural product mixtures are also studied to explore their therapeutic potential and used clinically (Wink, 2015).…”

The role of nanomaterials in enhancing natural product translational potential and modulating endoplasmic reticulum stress in the treatment of ovarian cancer

“…Since ancient times, nature has been a wonderful source of sustainable bioresources, yielding many therapeutically active compounds, including those for the treatment and management of cancer ( Shen and Singla, 2020 ; Singla, 2021 ; Singla et al, 2021 ; Singla et al, 2022a ; Singla et al, 2022b ; Singla et al, 2022c ; Kumar et al, 2022 ). This makes food, medicinal plants, and dietary supplements a goldmine and reservoir to discover promising and novel therapeutic molecules ( Amin et al, 2011 ; Amin et al, 2021 ; Juaid et al, 2021 ).…”