Pharmacological Uses of the Plants Belonging to the Genus Commiphora.

Natural products have a unique place in the healthcare industry. The genus Commiphora emerged as a potential medicinal source with huge benefits as evidenced through its use in various traditional and modern systems of medicine. Therefore, we aimed to prepare a concise review on the pharmacological activities and the indigenous uses of various plant species belonging to the genus Commiphora along with the structural information of various active botanical ingredients present in these plants based on the published literatures and scientific reports. To collect the published literatures on Commiphora in various journals; to study and classify the available information on the pharmacological uses and chemical constituents; and to present the gathered information as a precise review to serve as a potential reference for future research. Pharmacological and phytochemical data on Commiphora plant species were collected from various journals, books, reference materials, websites including scientific databases, etc. for compilation. This review article describes the various pharmacological properties of plants of Commiphora species viz., anti-arthritic and anti-inflammatory, anti-atherogenic, antibacterial, anti-coagulant, antidicrocoeliasis, anti-epileptic, anti-fascioliasis, anti-fungal, anti-heterophyidiasis, anti-hypercholesterolemic, anti-hyperlipidemic, anti-hypothyroidism, anti-obesity, anti-osteoarthritic, antiosteoclastogenesis, anti-oxidant, anti-parasitic, anti-pyretic, anti-schistosomiasis, anti-septic, antithrombotic, anti-ulcer, cardioprotective, COX enzyme inhibitory, cytotoxic /anti-carcinogenic/anticancer, DNA cleavage, hypotensive, inhibits lipid peroxidation, inhibits NO and NO synthase production, insecticidal, local anesthetic, molluscicidal, smooth muscle relaxant, and tick repellent activities along with toxicity studies. Furthermore, the review also included various secondary metabolites isolated from various species of Commiphora genus along with their chemical structures serving as a ready resource for researchers. We conclude that the plant species belonging to the genus Commiphora possesses abundant pharmacological properties with a huge treasure of diverse secondary metabolites within themselves. This review indicates the necessity of further in-depth research, pre-clinical, and clinical studies with Commiphora genus, which may help to detect the unidentified potential of the Commiphora plant species.

Exploitation of novel gum Prunus cerasoides as mucoadhesive beads for a controlled-release drug delivery.

The present study deals with the formulation of pH-sensitive mucoadhesive beads using natural gum isolated from Prunus cerasoides (PC) in combination with sodium alginate (SA) for the controlled release of diclofenac sodium (DS). PC and SA composite (PC-SA), DS loaded SA (DS-SA) and DS loaded PC-SA (DS-PC-SA) beads were prepared by ionotropic gelation method. The absence of interaction between DS and PC-SA was shown by FTIR, DSC and TGA analyses. The optimized DS-PC-SA formulation exhibited mucoadhesive property and the controlled release of DS was achieved 68% in 12h. The in vitro release kinetics follows zero order with anomalous diffusion mechanism. Therefore, the formulated mucoadhesive beads with the novel gum are preferable for the controlled release of DS by prolonging the residence time of the drug in the gastrointestinal tract, overcoming the problems associated with the immediate release dosage forms of DS.

Lipoxygenase inhibitory activity of crude bark extracts and isolated compounds from Commiphora berryi.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Commiphora berryi is traditionally used for the treatment of cold and fever as well as for wound healing in the southern parts of India. AIM OF STUDY: The present study was designed to investigate in vitro soybean lipoxygenase inhibitory activity of crude extracts and compounds isolated from Commiphora berryi. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The bark of Commiphora berryi was extracted with different organic solvents and subjected to chromatographic separation for isolation of bioactive compounds. Structures of isolated compounds were elucidated by spectroscopic methods. The anti-inflammatory activity of bark extracts and bioactive compounds were assessed by in vitro soybean lipoxygenase (SBL) assay. RESULTS: 3ß-Hydroxyglutin-5-ene (1), friedelin (2), cycloeucaneol (3) nimbiol (4), sugiol (5), surianol (6), daucosterol (7) and ursolic acid (8) were isolated from crude bark extracts of the Commiphora berryi. The structure of nimbiol (4) was also confirmed by single crystal X-ray analysis. The petroleum ether, methanol, chloroform and ethyl acetate extracts of bark of Commiphora berryi showed SBL inhibitory activity with the IC(50) values of 15.3, 54.2, 71.5 and 87.8 µg/ml respectively. Among all the isolates, friedelin (2) showed significant SBL inhibitory activity with IC(50) 35.8 µM. CONCLUSION: The overall results provide evidence that the studied plant might be a potential source of anti-inflammatory agents.

Antioxidant and antibacterial activities of bark extracts from Commiphora berryi and Commiphora caudata.

This study investigates the in vitro antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of eight extracts obtained from the dried barks of Commiphora berryi and Commiphora caudata (Burseraceae). The radical scavenging activity was assessed by 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) and nitric oxide assays. The methanolic extracts of C. berryi and C. caudata showed significant DPPH radical scavenging activity, with IC50 values of 26.92 and 21.16 µg mL⁻¹, respectively, and low radical scavenging activity against the nitric oxide assay. The antimicrobial activity of the plants was tested against the Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The ethyl acetate, chloroform and petroleum ether extracts of C. berryi showed good antibacterial activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 0.26 mg mL⁻¹, whereas the ethyl acetate and methanol extracts of C. caudata showed moderate antimicrobial activity with an MIC of more than 2.0 mg mL⁻¹ against P. aeruginosa compared to the petroleum ether and chloroform extracts, which showed an MIC of 1.1 mg mL⁻¹. The methanolic extracts of C. berryi and C. caudata also showed moderate cytotoxic activity against a human mammary carcinoma cell line (MCF-7), with values IC50 of 82.6 and 88.4 µg mL⁻¹, respectively.