title: Clinacanthus nutans: A review of the medicinal uses, pharmacology and phytochemistry.
abstract: Clinacanthus nutans Lindau is known as snake grass belonging to the Acanthaceae family. This plant has diverse and potential medicinal uses in traditional herbal medicine for treating skin rashes, insects and snake bites, lesions caused by herpes simplex virus, diabetes, and gout in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and China. Phytochemical investigations documented the varied contents of bioactive compounds from this plant namely flavonoids, glycosides, glycoglycerolipids, cerebrosides and monoacylmonogalatosylglycerol. The pharmacological experiment proved that various types of extracts and pure compounds from this species exhibited a broad range of biological properties such as anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antioxidant, and anti-diabetic activities. The findings of toxicity study showed that extracts from this plant did not show any toxicity thus it can be used as strong therapeutic agents for specific diseased conditions. However, further experiments on chemical components and their mode of action showing biological activities are required to elucidate the complete phytochemical profile and assess to confirm their suitability for future drugs. This review summarizes the medicinal uses, phytochemistry and pharmacology of this plant in order to explore its therapeutic potential and gaps necessitating for prospected research work.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Pharmacy, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), Kuantan Campus, Kuantan 25200, Pahang, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Ariful
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alam
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Science, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), Kuantan Campus, Kuantan 25200, Pahang, Malaysia. Electronic address: sahena@iium.edu.my.
authors.forename: Sahena
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ferdosh
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science and Nutrition, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Kashif
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ghafoor
authors.affiliation: Institute of Tropical Agriculture, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Abdul
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hakim
authors.affiliation: Department of Crop Science, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Abdul Shukor
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Juraimi
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Pharmacy, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), Kuantan Campus, Kuantan 25200, Pahang, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Alfi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Khatib
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Pharmacy, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), Kuantan Campus, Kuantan 25200, Pahang, Malaysia. Electronic address: zaidul@iium.edu.my.
authors.forename: Zaidul I
authors.initials: ZI
authors.lastname: Sarker
keywords: Clinacanthus nutans; Medicinal uses; Pharmacology; Phytochemicals; Therapeutic potential