Department of Botany, HNB Garhwal University, Srinagar Garhwal, Uttarakhand 246174, India.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2012 Aug 30;143(1):262-91. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2012.06.034. Epub 2012 Jul 1.
Inspite of tremendous advances made in allopathic medical practices, herbs still play an important role in the management of various liver diseases. A large number of plants and formulations have been claimed to have hepatoprotective activity. Jaundice is a symptom, indicative of the malfunctioning of the liver. This paper provides ethnomedicinal information on the plants used to treat jaundice by three important indigenous communities, i.e., nomadic Gujjars, Tharu and Bhoxa of Sub-Himalayan region, Uttarakhand, India.
To record herbal preparations used by the studied indigenous communities in treatment of jaundice and discuss hepatoprotective properties of the recorded plants.
The traditional knowledge of the studied indigenous communities on herbal preparations used for treating jaundice was collected through structured questionnaire and personal interviews. The interviews were conducted with 91 traditional healers (29 Bhoxa, 35 Tharu and 27 nomadic Gujjars) in Sub-Himalayan region of Uttarakhand, India. More than 250 research papers reporting ethnomedicinal information on the hepatoprotective plants used by various communities from different parts of India were extensively reviewed.
A total of 40 medicinal plants belonging to 31 families and 38 genera were recorded to be used by the studied communities in 45 formulations as a remedy of jaundice. Bhoxa, nomadic Gujjars and Tharu communities used 15, 23 and 9 plants, respectively. To our knowledge eight plants reported in the present survey viz., Amaranthus spinosus L., Cissampelos pareira L., Ehretia laevis Roxb., Holarrhena pubescens Wall., Ocimum americanum L., Physalis divaricata D. Don, Solanum incanum L. and Trichosanthes cucumerina L. have not been reported earlier as remedy of jaundice in India. Literature review revealed that a total of 214 (belonging to 181 genus and 78 families), 19 (belonging to 18 genus and 12 families) and 14 (belonging to 14 genus and 11 families) plant species are used as internal, external and magico-religious remedies for jaundice, respectively by various communities in different parts of India. Most widely used hepatoprotective plant species for treatment of jaundice in India is Boerhavia diffusa L. followed by Tinospora cordifolia (Willd.) Miers, Saccharum officinarum L., Phyllanthus amarus Schumach. & Thonn., Ricinus communis L., Andrographis paniculata (Burm. f.) Nees., Oroxylum indicum (L.) Kurz, Lawsonia inermis L. and Eclipta prostrata (L.) L.
The plants recorded in the present survey have also been discussed in relation to pharmacological studies and hepatoprotective phytoconstituents present in them. Most of the recorded plants have shown hepatoprotective effects on experimental animals in earlier studies but more studies are needed to assess hepatoprotective properties of some recorded medicinal plants viz., Averrhoa carambola L., Ehretia laevis Roxb., Holarrhena pubescens Wall., Mangifera indica L., Ocimum americanum L., Oroxylum indicum (L.) Kurz, Physalis divaricata D. Don, Solanum incanum L., Sphaeranthus senegalensis DC. and Tribulus terrestris L.. The plants enumerated in this study with high number of citations and wider distributions have given some useful leads for further biomedical research. Nevertheless more phytochemical, pharmaceutical and clinical studies are needed to evaluate hepatoprotective properties, efficacy and safety of all the claimed medicinal plants.
尽管在对抗疗法医学实践方面取得了巨大进展，但草药在各种肝脏疾病的治疗中仍然发挥着重要作用。大量的植物和配方被声称具有保肝活性。黄疸是肝脏功能失调的一个症状。本文提供了印度北阿坎德邦次喜马拉雅地区三个重要土著社区（游牧古贾尔人、塔鲁人和博克萨人）用于治疗黄疸的植物的民族医学信息。
记录研究土著社区用于治疗黄疸的草药制剂，并讨论所记录植物的保肝特性。
通过结构化问卷和个人访谈收集研究土著社区用于治疗黄疸的草药制剂的传统知识。在印度北阿坎德邦次喜马拉雅地区，对 91 位传统治疗师（29 位博克萨人、35 位塔鲁人和 27 位游牧古贾尔人）进行了访谈。广泛回顾了 250 多篇报告印度不同地区各种社区用于保肝植物的民族医学信息的研究论文。
记录了 40 种药用植物，属于 31 科 38 属，被研究社区用于 45 种制剂中，作为黄疸的治疗方法。博克萨人、游牧古贾尔人和塔鲁人社区分别使用了 15、23 和 9 种植物。据我们所知，在本次调查中报告的八种植物，即刺叶苋菜、Cissampelos pareira、Ehretia laevis Roxb.、Holarrhena pubescens Wall.、牛至、Physalis divaricata D. Don、茄科植物和 Trichosanthes cucumerina L.，以前在印度没有被报道为黄疸的治疗方法。文献综述显示，共有 214 种（属于 181 属和 78 科）、19 种（属于 18 属和 12 科）和 14 种（属于 14 属和 11 科）植物物种分别被印度不同地区的各种社区用作黄疸的内部、外部和魔法宗教治疗方法。印度最广泛用于治疗黄疸的保肝植物物种是 Boerhavia diffusa L.，其次是 Tinospora cordifolia (Willd.) Miers、甘蔗、Phyllanthus amarus Schumach. & Thonn.、Ricinus communis L.、穿心莲、Oroxylum indicum (L.) Kurz、Lawsonia inermis L. 和 Eclipta prostrata (L.) L.
本调查中记录的植物也与药理学研究和其中存在的保肝植物成分进行了讨论。大多数记录的植物在早期研究中对实验动物表现出保肝作用，但仍需要更多的研究来评估一些记录的药用植物的保肝特性，如 Averrhoa carambola L.、Ehretia laevis Roxb.、Holarrhena pubescens Wall.、Mangifera indica L.、牛至、Oroxylum indicum (L.) Kurz、Physalis divaricata D. Don、茄科植物、Sphaeranthus senegalensis DC. 和 Tribulus terrestris L.。本研究中列出的具有高引用次数和广泛分布的植物为进一步的生物医学研究提供了一些有用的线索。然而，仍需要更多的植物化学、药物学和临床研究来评估所有声称的药用植物的保肝作用、疗效和安全性。
