Clinical uses of Herbs in Heart Disease

1- DIGITALIS SPECIES

 

Botanical Origin:

Digitalis purpurea, Digitalis lanata

Family:

 Plantigenaceae

Part used: Dried leaves

Collection:

Leaves collected from 2^nd year growth of plant in June before opening of flower.

Drying is done by applying artificial heat (temperature not more than 65°C).

Geographical Sources

It is mainly found in England, Germany, France, North America, India, Iraq, Japan, Kurdistan, Mexico, Nepal, Spain, Turkey.

Plant:

Perreneal or bieneal herb, 1.5 m tall In 1st year radical rises.

In 2^nd year shoot grows and bears bell shaped flowers.

Purpurea, purple flowers, Fruits are big lobular capsule with many seeds

Lanata, small, 1 meter tall, yellowish creamy flower.

Leaves bears hairs.

Mechanism:

• Increase the force of systolic contraction
• Shorten length of systole

As a result

• Heart have more time to rest between contraction.

Therapeutic activity depends upon;

• Chemical nature of aglycone
• Number of sugars

Clinical Uses:

• As cardiotonic glycosides
• In CHF
• It has also been employed in the treatment of internal haemorrhage, in inflammatory diseases, in delirium tremens, in epilepsy, in acute mania and various other diseases.
• Digitalis has a cumulative effect in the body, so the dose has to be decided very carefully Safety of the herb cannot be established due to variable amounts of cardiac glycosides. The powder is toxic at 520mg
• Cardiac glycosides are extensively used as anticancer agents.

 2- Convallaria majalis

 

 Family: Liliaceae

Part Used: Rhizomes/roots or aerial parts

Constituents: The principal glycoside is convalla-toxin, which on hydrolysis gives strophanthidin and rhamnose.

Uses:

• Cardio-active (same as digitalis).
• Convallatoxin, a Dual Inducer of Autophagy and Apoptosis.
• Inhibits Angiogenesis In Vitro and In Vivo exerts cytotoxic effects on a number of cancer and normal cell lines and induces apoptosis by increasing caspase3 and poly ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) cleavage.

3- Urginea indica

 

 

Synonym: Sea onion, Indian squill, scilla

Part used: Dried slices of the bulb of Urginea indica

Family: Liliaceae

WORLD WIDE especially in India

CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS

Cardiac glycosides: scillaren A, Scillaren B

Glucoscillaren A

Enzyme scillarenase

Mucilage

Calcium oxalate

PHARMACOLOGICAL ACTIVITY

Cardiac stimulant action

In small dose act as diuretic

In large dose act as emetic & cathartic

Resembles Digitalis in action

Also possess anticancer activity.

Uses:

• Digitalis like action on Heart In small doses used as expectorant Diuretic and anticancer. The squill has shown to have cardiac effects similar to digoxin, including positive inotropic and negative chronotropic effects.
• The aglycones in squill are poorly absorbed from the GI tract and are therefore less potent than digitalis cardiac glycosides. Additional cardiovascular properties include reducing left ventricular diastolic pressure and reducing pathologically elevated venous pressure.

4- Allium sativum 

(Garlic)

 

 

Cultivation: Cultivated all over the world

 Popular for use as;

• Food flavoring
• Medicine

Introduction

• Garlic, Allium sativum, is a root crop (meaning the bulb grows underground) of the family Liliaceae
• It is among the oldest of all cultivated plants
• The leaves are long, narrow and flat like grass
• It is a member of the same group of plants as the Onion. Garlic Bulb:
• The bulb of Allium sativum is the only part of the plant eaten
• The cloves are grouped together between the membranous scales and enclosed within a whitish skin, which holds them as in a sac

History:

• In China, garlic tea has long been recommended for fever, headache, and cholera.
• In Japan, garlic is used as remedy for the common cold with headache, fever and sort throat.
• The Egyptian: an effective remedy for a variety of ailment including heart problems, headache, bites, worms and tumors.
•  Roman: garlic poultices were used to prevent wound infections

Common Uses:

• Common cold prevention
• Heart disease prevention
• Antiseptic
• Antimicrobial activities
• Insect repellent
• Anticancer effects
• Strengthen Immune System
•  Vaginal Infections
• Antioxidant effects
• Anti-coagulation effects
• High cholesterol
• Hypertension

Medical Uses:

• The Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India indicates the use of the bulb as a brain tonic in epilepsy and psychic disorders.
• Heavy consumption of garlic prior to surgery led to increased clotting time or reduced platelet aggregation (in human case reports).
• Garlic tablets at a dose of 400 mg twice daily for 12weeks reduced platelet aggregation 59% compared with placebo in 80 patients (in human clinical study).
• Garlic cloves are high in sulphur containing amino acids known as alliin (no taste, no smell, no medicinal action) }
• Prevention of certain cancers (stomach and colon cancer) }
• Standardized Allium sativum bulbs is used as Hypo-cholesterolemic / Antirheumatic Powder/Paste: Alliin 1.5%–2.5% by HPLC }
• The antibiotic effect is attributed to allicin; }
• Hypoglycaemic effect to allicin and allyl-prophyl-disulphide }
• Anticarcinogenic activity to diallyl-monosulfide; }
• platelet aggregation inhibitory effect to diallyl-di- and tri-sulphides. }
• Ajoene inactivated human gastric lipase, which is involved in digestion and absorption of dietary fats }
• Dosage Bulb—3g

5- PUNICA GRANATUM

Synonym; Pomegranate

Family: Punicaceae

Cultivation: Mostly in India and Afghanistan

Plant:

Short (less than 5 m), spiny shrub with shiny leaves of 4-6 cm } Bears red/orange bell shaped flowers } Produces red spherical fruits approx.10 cm in diameter

Each fruit contains numerous seeds covered in fleshy arils (seed packets) contained in walls of membranous tissue.

Constituents:

Fruit

• Antioxidants
•  Polyphenols
• Tannins (Ellagitannins)
• Anthocyanins
• Steroid estrogen estrone (one of the few plants in nature)
• Roots, Bark, Leaves
• Piperidine alkaloids
• Pelletierine, Isopelletierine (Active)
• N-methylisopelletierine, pseudopelletierine (Inactive)
• Punico tannic acid

Historic Uses:

• Greek physicians advised women of childbearing age to ingest the seeds of pomegranate to prevent pregnancy
• Giambattista della Porta suggest (Italian scholor) eating the seeds to strengthen teeth.

Traditional Uses:

Pomegranates have astringent properties because of the alkaloids (pelletierine tannate) present in the bark of the stems and roots and have been used for many years as an anthelmintic

Dysentery and chronic diarrhea

Seed packets used in dyes

Modern Uses:

Juice of Leaves and Fruits

• Antioxidant (free radical scavenging)
• Lower LDL-level in blood
• Gastroenterological ailments including diarrhea and Ulcers
• Antiatherosclerosis
• Prevent cancers
• Hypertension
• Diabetes

Rind and Bark of stem and roots

• Anthelmintic
• Antidiarrheal
• Promotes mucous discharge

Dried Flowers

Hematuria, hemorrhoids, dysentery, chronic diarrhea, and bronchitis