Department of Biochemistry, University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, Nigeria.
Department of Pharmacognosy and Drug Development, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2021 Aug 10;276:114055. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2021.114055. Epub 2021 Mar 19.
Natural products derived from plants have served the primary healthcare needs of millions of indigenous people for centuries, many of which have been documented and scientifically validated. Morinda lucida Benth (Rubiaceae), also referred to as brimstone tree, is an ethnomedicinal plant which has been widely used in traditional medicine for several decades, particularly in the African continent. Various parts of the plant, including stem bark, leaves and root, have been applied in traditional medicine for the management of various pathological conditions such as malaria, diabetes, hypertension, inflammation, typhoid fever, cancer, cognitive disorders, sickle cell disease, trypanosomiasis, onchocerciasis and various fevers. In this review, we critically evaluated the relationship between traditional uses, laboratory pharmacological activities and clinical studies on M. lucida so as to unveil opportunities for the development of relevant therapeutic agents against diseases that threaten mankind.
A search for relevant data on M. lucida was done using scientific databases (Google Scholar, Mendeley, ScienceDirect, PubMed, Asian Science Citation Database, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese Scientific Journal Database, Chinese Science Citation Database, other web sources (such as The Plant List and PROTA), books and other literature sources.
A hundred compounds have been isolated from M. lucida. Many of the reported secondary metabolites include alkaloids, tannins, anthraquinones, sterols, saponins, polyphenols, terpenoids, phenols and cardiac glycosides. The in vitro and in vivo experimental studies on various extracts, fractions and isolated compounds of M. lucida support the acclaimed pharmacological activities of the plant, such as antimalarial, antidiabetic, hypotensive, anti-inflammatory, immunostimulatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial, antiproliferative, cognitive-enhancement, anti-sickling, anti-trypanosomal, anti-onchocercal, muscle relaxant, antifungal and anti-leishmanial activities. These evidence-based scientific reports lend credence to their traditional uses. However, the safety of extracts of M. lucida is a cause for concern following reported toxicities such as antispermatogenic effect, genotoxicity and in vitro inhibition of human cytochrome P450 3A subfamily.
Documented evidence suggests that M. lucida remains a rich source of extracts and chemical compounds with diverse bioactivities that are of therapeutic benefit to man and this justifies its traditional uses for the primary healthcare needs of indigenous populations across tropical Africa. Due to the fact that M. lucida extracts may not be safe at some reported doses, more in-depth studies on their toxicities are required to better understand safer approaches to their traditional uses. In addition, mechanistic studies on the isolated compounds with known pharmacological activities are quite limited, thus necessitating future research efforts to be focused on the mechanisms of action of these active principles in order to facilitate their potential enlistment for rational drug design.
植物来源的天然产物为数百万土著人民的基本医疗需求提供了数百年的服务，其中许多已被记录和科学验证。Morinda lucida Benth（茜草科），也称为硫磺树，是一种在传统医学中广泛使用了几十年的民族药用植物，特别是在非洲大陆。该植物的各个部分，包括茎皮、叶和根，已在传统医学中用于治疗各种病理状况，如疟疾、糖尿病、高血压、炎症、伤寒、癌症、认知障碍、镰状细胞病、锥虫病、盘尾丝虫病和各种发热。在本综述中，我们批判性地评估了 M. lucida 的传统用途、实验室药理学活性和临床研究之间的关系，以揭示开发针对威胁人类疾病的相关治疗剂的机会。
使用科学数据库（Google Scholar、Mendeley、ScienceDirect、PubMed、亚洲科学引文数据库、中国生物医学文献数据库、中国国家知识基础设施、中国科学期刊数据库、中国科学引文数据库、其他网络资源（如植物名录和 PROTA）、书籍和其他文献来源）对 M. lucida 进行了相关数据的搜索。
从 M. lucida 中分离出了一百种化合物。许多报道的次生代谢物包括生物碱、单宁、蒽醌、甾醇、皂苷、多酚、萜类、酚类和强心苷。M. lucida 的各种提取物、馏分和分离化合物的体外和体内实验研究支持了该植物备受赞誉的药理学活性，如抗疟、抗糖尿病、降血压、抗炎、免疫刺激、抗氧化、抗菌、抗增殖、增强认知、抗镰状化、抗锥虫、抗盘尾丝虫、肌肉松弛、抗真菌和抗利什曼原虫活性。这些基于证据的科学报告为其传统用途提供了依据。然而，M. lucida 提取物的安全性令人担忧，因为有报道称其具有抗生育、遗传毒性和体外抑制人细胞色素 P450 3A 亚家族等毒性。
有记录的证据表明，M. lucida 仍然是具有多种生物活性的提取物和化学化合物的丰富来源，这些提取物和化学化合物对人类的治疗有益，这证明了其在热带非洲土著人群的基本医疗需求方面的传统用途。由于 M. lucida 提取物在一些报道的剂量下可能不安全，因此需要对其毒性进行更深入的研究，以更好地了解其传统用途的更安全方法。此外，具有已知药理学活性的分离化合物的机制研究相当有限，因此需要未来的研究工作集中于这些活性成分的作用机制，以促进它们在合理药物设计中的潜在应用。
