Department of Botany, Hamdard University, Hamdard Nagar, New Delhi 110 062, India.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2013 Oct 28;150(1):353-70. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2013.08.052. Epub 2013 Sep 9.
Although many plants are claimed to possess anticonvulsant/antiepileptic (AC/AE) properties, but there is very little information available about plants used by various ethnic communities in different parts of India to treat epilepsy, one of the most common disorders of central nervous system (CNS); this communication provides significant ethnomedicinal information on the plants used by indigenous communities: Bhoxa, Tharu and nomadic Gujjars of sub-Himalayan region, Uttarakhand, India to treat epilepsy, so that it could be used as a baseline data for studying chemical constituents and biological activities of these promising plants.
To record herbal preparations used by the presently studied communities for treating epilepsy and discuss AC/AE properties of the recorded plants.
Ninety one traditional healers (29 Bhoxa, 35 Tharu and 27 nomadic Gujjars) in sub-Himalayan region of Uttarakhand, India were interviewed to collect information on herbal preparations used by them for treating epilepsy. For each recorded species the use value (UV) and fidelity level (FL) was calculated.
A total of 24 plants belonging to 24 genera and 22 families were used by the presently studied communities in 26 formulations to treat epilepsy. According to FL and UV values, most preferred species for the treatment of epilepsy by Bhoxa community are Ricinus communis L. and Datura stramonium L.; by nomadic Gujjar community are Martynia annua L., Bacopa monnieri (L.) Wettst. and Ricinus communis L.; and by Tharu community are Allium sativum L., Asparagus racemosus Willd. and Achyranthes aspera L. Eight plants viz., Allium sativum L., Boerhavia diffusa L., Cassia fistula L., Clerodendrum viscosum Vent., Datura stramonium L., Inula cappa DC., Oroxylum indicum (L.) Kurz and Pavetta indica L. recorded in the present survey have been reported for the first time in treatment of epilepsy by these indigenous communities in India. Five out of these eight newly reported plants viz., Cassia fistula L., Clerodendrum viscosum Vent., Inula cappa DC., Oroxylum indicum (L.) Kurz and Pavetta indica L. have not been pharmacologically evaluated yet for their possible AC/AE properties.
Detailed research on the listed plants and their derivatives may be undertaken to provide new alternative treatments and therapeutic uses for epilepsy or other diseases of CNS. We hope that this article will stimulate further investigations into natural products for new AC/AE agents from the recorded ethnomedicinal plants.
尽管有许多植物被声称具有抗惊厥/抗癫痫（AC/AE）特性，但关于印度不同地区的各种族裔社区用于治疗癫痫的植物的信息却很少，癫痫是中枢神经系统（CNS）最常见的疾病之一；本通讯提供了有关印度 sub-Himalayan 地区的 Bhoxa、Tharu 和游牧的 Gujjars 社区用于治疗癫痫的植物的重要民族医学信息，以便将其用作研究这些有前途的植物的化学成分和生物活性的基线数据。
记录目前研究社区用于治疗癫痫的草药制剂，并讨论记录植物的 AC/AE 特性。
在印度北阿坎德邦的 sub-Himalayan 地区，采访了 91 名传统治疗师（29 名 Bhoxa、35 名 Tharu 和 27 名游牧的 Gujjars），以收集他们用于治疗癫痫的草药制剂信息。对于每种记录的物种，计算了使用价值（UV）和保真度水平（FL）。
目前研究的社区共使用 24 种植物，属于 24 属和 22 科，用于 26 种制剂治疗癫痫。根据 FL 和 UV 值，Bhoxa 社区最常用于治疗癫痫的首选物种是蓖麻 Ricinus communis L. 和曼陀罗 Datura stramonium L.；游牧的 Gujjar 社区是马蒂尼娅 annua L.、牛膝草 Bacopa monnieri (L.) Wettst. 和蓖麻 Ricinus communis L.；而 Tharu 社区则是大蒜 Allium sativum L.、天门冬 Asparagus racemosus Willd. 和 Achyranthes aspera L.。本调查中记录的 8 种植物，即大蒜 Allium sativum L.、白花丹 Boerhavia diffusa L.、印度决明 Cassia fistula L.、绒毛香茶菜 Clerodendrum viscosum Vent.、曼陀罗 Datura stramonium L.、千里光 Inula cappa DC.、印度黄檀 Oroxylum indicum (L.) Kurz 和印度滨藜 Pavetta indica L.，在印度这些土著社区中首次被报道用于治疗癫痫。在这 8 种新报告的植物中，有 5 种，即印度决明 Cassia fistula L.、绒毛香茶菜 Clerodendrum viscosum Vent.、千里光 Inula cappa DC.、印度黄檀 Oroxylum indicum (L.) Kurz 和印度滨藜 Pavetta indica L.，尚未对其可能的 AC/AE 特性进行药理学评估。
对列出的植物及其衍生物进行详细研究，可能为癫痫或其他 CNS 疾病提供新的替代治疗方法和治疗用途。我们希望这篇文章将激发对记录民族医学植物中用于治疗癫痫或其他 CNS 疾病的天然产物的进一步研究。
