Phytochemical Profile, Pharmacological Attributes and Medicinal Properties of Convolvulus prostratus – A Cognitive Enhancer Herb for the Management of Neurodegenerative Etiologies
Authors
Acharya Balkrishna
Drug Discovery and Development Division, Patanjali Research Institute, Haridwar, India
Pallavi Thakur
Drug Discovery and Development Division, Patanjali Research Institute, Haridwar, India
Anurag Varshney
Drug Discovery and Development Division, Patanjali Research Institute, Haridwar, India
Convolvulus prostratus Forssk., a nootropic herb used in traditional medicinal systems, is also frequently known by its taxonomic synonym Convolvulus pluricaulis. In Indian medicinal system – Ayurveda – it is named as Shankhpushpi. According to the ancient literature, this herb has been attributed with several therapeutic properties, such as anxiolytic, neuroprotective, antioxidant, analgesic, immunomodulatory, antimicrobial, antidiabetic and cardioprotective activities. This medicinal herb has been reported to contain many bioactive phytoconstituents, such as, alkaloid (convolamine), flavonoid (kaempferol) and phenolics (scopoletin, β-sitosterol and ceryl alcohol), that have been ascribed to the observed medicinal properties. Several research teams across the globe have highlighted the neuro-pharmacological profile of C. prostratus, wherein, the neuroprotective, nootropic and neuro-modulatory roles have been described. Besides, role of C. prostratus extracts in neurodegeneration has been well demonstrated. Despite of such elaborative preclinical pharmacological profile, detailed clinical investigations and mechanistic mode-of-action studies of this important herb are yet to be executed. The present review is attempted to showcase the phytochemical profile, pharmacological attributes and medicinal information of C. prostratus; with comprehensive research gap analysis. It is hoped that the scientific update on the ethnomedicinal aspects of this herb would thrive research propagation and development of the CNS phytopharmaceuticals, originated from C. prostratus.
Keywords: Convolvulus prostratus, Shankhpushpi, natural product, Ayurveda, neuroprotective, nootropic
Author Biographies
Acharya Balkrishna, Drug Discovery and Development Division, Patanjali Research Institute, Haridwar, India
Department of Allied and Applied Sciences, University of Patanjali, Haridwar, India
Anurag Varshney, Drug Discovery and Development Division, Patanjali Research Institute, Haridwar, India
Department of Allied and Applied Sciences, University of Patanjali, Haridwar, India
Click on "Archives" to access the full archive of scientific preprints. You may use the categories and the search functionality to find select preprints you're interested in.
