Catharanthus roseus (L.) known as Madagascar periwinkle (MP) is a legendary medicinal plant mostly because of possessing two invaluable antitumor terpenoid indole alkaloids (TIAs), vincristine and vinblastine. The plant has also high aesthetic value as an evergreen ornamental that yields prolific blooms of splendid colors. The plant possesses yet another unique characteristic as an amiable experimental host for the maintenance of the smallest bacteria found on earth, the phytoplasmas and spiroplasmas, and serves as a model for their study. Botanical information with respect to synonyms, vernacular names, cultivars, floral morphology, and reproduction adds to understanding of the plant while the geography and ecology of periwinkle illustrate the organism’s ubiquity. Good agronomic practices ensure generous propagation of healthy plants that serve as a source of bioactive compounds and multitudinous horticultural applications. The correlation between genetic diversity, variants, and TIA production exists. MP is afflicted with a whole range of diseases that have to be properly managed. The ethnobotanical significance of MP is exemplified by its international usage as a traditional remedy for abundant ailments and not only for cancer. TIAs are present only in micro quantities in the plant and are highly poisonous per se rendering a challenge for researchers to increase yield and reduce toxicity.

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Ornamental exterior versus therapeutic interior of Madagascar periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus): the two faces of a versatile herb.

Cancer, one of the leading illnesses, accounts for about 10 million deaths worldwide. The treatment of cancer includes surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and drug therapy, along with others, which not only put a tremendous economic effect on patients but also develop drug resistance in patients with time. A significant number of cancer cases can be prevented/treated by implementing evidence-based preventive strategies. Plant-based drugs have evolved as promising preventive chemo options both in developing and developed nations. The secondary plant metabolites such as alkaloids have proven efficacy and acceptability for cancer treatment. Apropos, this review deals with a spectrum of promising alkaloids such as colchicine, vinblastine, vincristine, vindesine, vinorelbine, and vincamine within different domains of comprehensive information on these molecules such as their medical applications (contemporary/traditional), mechanism of antitumor action, and potential scale-up biotechnological studies on an in-vitro scale. The comprehensive information provided in the review will be a valuable resource to develop an effective, affordable, and cost effective cancer management program using these alkaloids. 

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Anticancer potential of alkaloids: a key emphasis to colchicine, vinblastine, vincristine, vindesine, vinorelbine and vincamine

India possess a rich biodiversity of the medicinal plants that were still not explored completely. The need for the novel pharmaceutical products out from the plant has attained a great interest  in the present research world due to the cost and the higher side effects that are associated with the chemically manufactured drugs. Catharanthus roseus,which is a potent medicinal plant many of the pharmacological actions such as antimicrobial, antioxidant, anthelmintic, antifeedant, antisterility, antidiarrheal, antidiabetic effect etc. That is used to treat many of the fatal diseases. Alkaloids were the major phytochemical constituent of the above medicinal plant and have different types possessing various medicinal uses. The pharmacology of the plant was found to be associated mostly especially with the alkaloids that occupies almost most of the parts of the plant. In this review, an attempt has been made to summarize the pharmacological effect of the above plant against various disease starting from the antimicrobial to that of the antineoplastic diseases in a precise way to help the scientist and learners to understand the basis medicinal value of the plant.

Pharmacological activities of catharanthus roseus: a perspective review

Atlas of medical parasitology with 456 colour illustrations

Herbal plants are integral parts of the traditional medicine worldwide and most of the rural and urban population uses these plants in many of their regular needs even today. The current researchers are more focused on natural chemicals than the synthetic chemicals due to their environmental, economical and health benefits. Plants produce many chemical compounds for its biological activities including defence mechanism against microbes, insects and herbivorous animals and these chemicals are called as phyto­chemicals. Herbal plants are a natural source of many important phyto­chemicals and widely used in Pharmaceutical, food and cosmetic industries. A wide variety of herbal plants are available in the Indian subcontinent and they are the backbone of Indian traditional medicines Ayurveda and Siddha. Leucas aspera Linn., commonly known as Thumbai or Dronpushpi is a small, erect, branched annual aromatic herb, distributed throughout India from the Himalayas down to Ceylon. Though it grows as a weed throughout the country, it has a number of medicinal values and it is used in traditional medicine to treat many diseases. The study of various biological properties of this plant will be useful for its potential use in respective industries. Medicinally, it has been proven to possess various pharmacological values like anti­fungal, anti­pyretic, antioxidant, antimicrobial, antinociceptive, analgesic, anti­diarrheal, insecticidal, anti­inflammatory and cytotoxic activity in a number of studies by different researchers in the past several years. The available reports on anti­microbial activity, anti­oxidant activity and pharmacological value of L. aspera are discussed in this review.

 




	
		
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			Pubmed Style
			
			Nirmala KA, Kanchana M. Leucas aspera – A Review of its Biological activity. SRP. 2018; 9(1): 41-44. doi:10.5530/srp.2018.1.8
			
			Web Style
			
			Nirmala KA, Kanchana M. Leucas aspera – A Review of its Biological activity. http://www.sysrevpharm.org/?mno=302644546 [Access: March 28, 2021]. doi:10.5530/srp.2018.1.8

			
			AMA (American Medical Association) Style

			Nirmala KA, Kanchana M. Leucas aspera – A Review of its Biological activity. SRP. 2018; 9(1): 41-44. doi:10.5530/srp.2018.1.8

			
			Vancouver/ICMJE Style

			Nirmala KA, Kanchana M. Leucas aspera – A Review of its Biological activity. SRP. (2018), [cited March 28, 2021]; 9(1): 41-44. doi:10.5530/srp.2018.1.8

			
			Harvard Style

			Nirmala, K. A. & Kanchana, . M. (2018) Leucas aspera – A Review of its Biological activity. SRP, 9 (1), 41-44. doi:10.5530/srp.2018.1.8

			
			Turabian Style

			Nirmala, Kulandaisamy Agnes, and Marimuthu Kanchana. 2018. Leucas aspera – A Review of its Biological activity. Systematic Reviews in Pharmacy, 9 (1), 41-44. doi:10.5530/srp.2018.1.8

			
			Chicago Style

			Nirmala, Kulandaisamy Agnes, and Marimuthu Kanchana. "Leucas aspera – A Review of its Biological activity." Systematic Reviews in Pharmacy 9 (2018), 41-44. doi:10.5530/srp.2018.1.8

			
			MLA (The Modern Language Association) Style

			Nirmala, Kulandaisamy Agnes, and Marimuthu Kanchana. "Leucas aspera – A Review of its Biological activity." Systematic Reviews in Pharmacy 9.1 (2018), 41-44. Print. doi:10.5530/srp.2018.1.8

			
			APA (American Psychological Association) Style

			Nirmala, K. A. & Kanchana, . M. (2018) Leucas aspera – A Review of its Biological activity. Systematic Reviews in Pharmacy, 9 (1), 41-44. doi:10.5530/srp.2018.1.8

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Leucas aspera – A Review of its Biological activity

Helminthes infections are chronic illnesses in human beings and in cattle. Pherithema posthuma a helminthes is commonly known as earth-worms. Although the use of alternate drugs has been as a remedial measure against the resistant strains of helminth parasites, and as a means of reducing the cost of controlling helminthic diseases. Catharanthus roseus is a medicinally valuable plant and possess various pharmacological properties. Catharanthus roseus has been traditionally used as an anthelminthic agent. To justify the ethnomedical claims, the anthelminthic property of Catharanthus roseus was evaluated using Pherithema posthuma as an experimental model. Piperazine citrate was used as the standard reference. Among the various concentrations tested, ethanol extract at 200 mg/ml showed efficient paralysis effect (6.67 min) than other treated groups, whereas ethanol extract 250 mg/ml showed significant anthelminthic activity with death time of 46.33 min. Standard drug at 50 mg/ml showed paralysis at 31.33 min and death time was 40.67 min. This investigation revealed that ethanol extract of Catharanthus roseus showed significant anthelminthic activity against Pheretima posthuma. Ethanol extract also proved to be efficient than the standard drug. This investigation supported the ethnomedical claims of Catharanthus roseus as an anthelminthic plant.

Nikkita Chettri

Papers

Evaluation of in-vitro anthelminthic activity of catharanthus roseus extract

Evaluation of in vitro anthelminthic activity of Leucas aspera extracts