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The Orient
Published in Michael J. O’Dowd, The History of Medications for Women, 2020
In Greek mythology, Ulysses and his crew visited the sensual ‘Land of the lotus-eaters’ where those who ate the lotus fruit entered a state of blissful indolence. Pharmacological studies confirm that nuciferine, the major alkaloid isolated from the lotus, has divergent psychoactive effects, sufficient to explain torpor (Satyvati, Ashok Gupta, and Tandon, 1987). Barbara Walker (1996) opined that eating the lotus was a (sexual) custom of ‘communion’ with the feminine life principle. In traditional Indian medicine, the lotus was used for intestinal complaints, bleeding piles, and menorrhagia. The plant also found a place in TCM and is still advised for premature ejaculation, spermatorrhea and uterine hemorrhage (Windridge, 1994; PPRC, 1992). The indications for the use of this divine plant are similar in Western herbal medicine.
Aquatic Plants Native to America
Published in Namrita Lall, Aquatic Plants, 2020
Bianca D. Fibrich, Jacqueline Maphutha, Carel B. Oosthuizen, Danielle Twilley, Khan-Van Ho, Chung-Ho Lin, Leszek P. Vincent, T. N. Shilpa, N. P. Deepika, B. Duraiswamy, S. P. Dhanabal, Suresh M. Kumar, Namrita Lall
Alkaloids are the only class of phytochemicals that have been reported in the American lotus. Several alkaloid compounds such as nuciferine, (±)-armepavine, (−)-N-nornuciferine, (−)-N-norarmepavine, O-nornuciferine, anonaine, and roemerine are found in trace amounts in the petioles of N. lutea (Zelenski 1977). The four alkaloids including nuciferine (0.047%), (±)-armepavine (0.0046%), (−)-N-nornuciferine (0.013%), and (−)-N-norarmepavine (0.055%) were also reported in the leaves and stems of N. lutea (Figure 4.33) (Kupchan et al. 1963). The four aporphine alkaloids (nuciferine, N-nornuciferine, O-nornuciferine, and (−)-armepavine) were found as the major phytochemicals in the leaves of the sacred lotus (N. nucifera) (Do et al. 2013, Ma et al. 2010).
Nelumbo nucifera
Published in Dilip Ghosh, Pulok K. Mukherjee, Natural Medicines, 2019
Pulok K. Mukherjee, Debayan Goswami, Bhaskar Das, Subhadip Banerjee
Ethanolic extract of lotus seeds showed significant hepatoprotective activity against CCl4-induced cytotoxicity in rat hepatocytes by inhibiting cellular leakage of AST and the cell death (Sohn et al. 2003; Jung et al. 2015). Adding to that, hydroalcoholic extract administration of seeds alleviated the levels of Super-oxide Dismutase (SOD) and catalase, thus protecting CCl4-induced liver and kidney damage in Wistar rats (Rai et al. 2006). Neferine was also found to inhibit CCl4-induced hepatic fibrosis in mice, partly due to lowered expression of TGF-β1 in the liver (Chen et al. 2015). Another study revealed haemoglobin-induced linoleic acid peroxidation was inhibited by Korean traditional lotus liquor made from lotus blossom and leaves (Lee et al. 2005). It was found that lotus germ oil inhibited hydrogen peroxide–induced apoptosis in PC-12 cells and also protected mice from CCl4-induced injury (Lv et al. 2012). It has also been reported that butanol extract of leaves protected H2O2-induced hepatic damage in cultured hepatocytes by increasing the expression of SOD-1, CAT and HO-1 (Je and Lee 2015). Nuciferine isolated from leaves also inhibited cytochrome P450 in vitro (Hu et al. 2010). The authors further discovered that nuciferine, when co-administered with phenacetin, changed the pharmacokinetic profile of phenacetin, suggesting that the compounds isolated from lotus may interfere with the bioavailability of prescribed drugs. Moreover, Ye et al. (2014) observed that lotus leaves contain alkaloid compounds that have a potent inhibitory effect on CYP2D6 enzymes. Consistent with this, neferine has been reported to inhibit CYP2D6 (Zhao et al. 2012, 2015). In another study, armepavine has been found to be effective against hepatic fibrosis induced by thioacetamide in rats. The treatment of armepavine inhibited protein expression of α-smooth muscle actin, collagen type I and angiopoietin-1, H2O2 production and nuclear translocation of NF-κB, JunD and C/EBPβ in TNF-α stimulated hepatic stellate cells (HSC-T6; Weng et al. 2012).
Pharmacokinetics, tissue distribution, bioavailability, and excretion of nuciferine, an alkaloid from lotus, in rats by LC/MS/MS
Published in Drug Development and Industrial Pharmacy, 2018
Fugang Wang, Juan Cao, Xueqin Hou, Zhiyong Li, Xiaolan Qu
Lotus (Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn) is a perennial aquatic crop grown over the world, especially in China, Korea, Japan, India, Vietnam, and Thailand. Lotus rhizomes, leaves, flowers, and seeds have been used not only as a healthy food but also as a Chinese medicine which has been compiled in Chinese Pharmacopoeia. Lotus leaves are used to clear heat, resolve summer heat, and stop bleeding in traditional Chinese medicine [1]. Lotus leaves are also widely used for tea for the treatment of hyperlipidemia and obesity in China. In previous studies, the major phytochemicals present in lotus leaf are alkaloids such as O-nornuciferine, N-nornuciferine, and nuciferine [2]. These alkaloids have been found with biological functions of antioxidant [3], anti-fibrosis [4], sedation [5], antimicrobial [6], anti-HIV [7], anti-hyperlipidemia [8], and anti-obesity [9].
Protective effects of lotus plumule ethanol extracts on bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in mice
Published in Drug and Chemical Toxicology, 2022
Peng Guo, Bin Li, Meng-Meng Liu, Yan-Xiao Li, Gong-Yu Weng, Ying Gao
Under the indicated conditions, the chemical compounds of LPEs were separated and the accurate mass measurements were provided by Q-TOF/MS. The total ion current (TIC) chromatogram of LPEs is shown in Figure 1. A total of eight compounds, including four bisbenzyltetrahydroisoquinoline alkaloids (liensinine, isoliensinine, neferine, and norisoliensinine), two aporphine alkaloids (nornuciferidine and nuciferine), and two benzyltetrahydroisoquinoline alkaloids (lotusine and 4′-methyl-N-methylcoclaurine), were identified. The characteristics of each compound are listed in Table 1 (Lin et al.2014, Jiang et al.2018, Tian et al.2018).
Herbal medicine for psychiatric disorders: Psychopharmacology and neuroscience-based nomenclature
Published in The World Journal of Biological Psychiatry, 2019
Siu W. Tang, Wayne H. Tang, Brian E. Leonard
We use the herb Ziziphus jujube (Zizyphi spinosi semen) as an example. This herb contains multiple ingredients with CNS properties, including sedative and anti-arrhythmia action, anti-bacterial/anti-parasitic action, anti-cancer action, and anti-angiogenic and anti-inflammatory action. Under the NbN, this herb would be regarded as a ‘GABA-5HT’ compound and, under ‘Mode of action’ would be a ‘GABA and 5HT1A agonist’ (Ma et al. 2007; Han et al. 2009). For neurobiology, the ingredient sanjoinine E (nuciferine) has been shown to possess actions on multiple neurotransmitter targets. It is a D2D5 partial agonist, an antagonist at 5-HT2A, 5-HT2C, and 5-HT2B, an inverse agonist at 5-HT7, a 5-HT6 partial agonist, an agonist at 5-HT1A and D4 receptors, and it inhibits the DA transporter (Farrell et al. 2016). It also acts on the ERK-CREB-BDNF signalling pathway to increase hippocampal neurogenesis and cognitive performance in animal models (Lee et al. 2016b). Its anti-dementia property may also stem from its anti-amyloid-β1-42 oligomer (AβO) action through the reduction of AβO-activated microglia and astrocytes and AβO-induced decrease in Ach transferase expression levels (Ko et al. 2015). In addition, spinosin targets the GABA and 5HT pathways, which explains its anxiolytic effect, an effect blocked by GABA and 5HT1A antagonists (Liu et al. 2015). The glycoside jujuboside A has sedative actions, which have been attributed to its inhibitory actions on the Glu and 5HT pathways (Zhang et al. 2003; Cao et al. 2010; Fang et al. 2010). Jujuboside B, on the other hand, has anti-tumour properties through the induction of apoptosis and autophagy (Xu et al. 2014).