Clerodendrum colebrookianum
Encyclopedia
Clerodendrum colebrookianum (East Indian Glory Bower) is a perennial shrub
belonging to the family
Lamiaceae
, but sometimes classified under Verbenaceae
. It is one of the most well known among ~400 species
of Clerodendrum, as it is widely used in traditional practices, such as for vegetable
and treatments of diabetes, hypertension
, cough
and rheumatism
.
The species is found in tropical
and subtropical regions of Asia
including India
, Myanmar
, Bangladesh
, Malayasia, Indonesia
, Thailand
, Bhutan
and Nepal
; and also in temperate
China
. In India it is confined to the north-east region including West Bengal
and Sikkim
, and is classified under the threat status as vulnerable
.
or small tree
, characterized by a foetid smell. It is erect reaches up to 1.5-3 m in height and is evergreen
. Branchlets are usually 4-angled when young. Leaves are simple, opposite or rarely whorled. Leaf base is wedge- shaped to heart-shaped, margin entire to slightly wavy, tip long-pointed to pointed. Flowers are white and borne in 4-6-branched corymbose cymes, at the end of branches. Inflorescence
s loosely cymose or capitate, in terminal or rarely axillary paniculate thyrses. Calyx
is campanulate or cup-shaped, densely pubescent. Corolla with a slender tube; lobes 5, spreading . Stamen
s 4, ovary
4-locular; ovule
s pendulous or laterally attached. Style
with 2 acute stigmatic lobes. Fruit is a drupe
with 4 1-seeded pyrenes, sometimes separating into 2 2-loculed or 4 1-locular mericarps. It flowers during postmonsoon
, from August to December.
, glycosides and reducing sugars. Novel compounds are identified such as colebroside A (1), a diglucoside of fatty acid
ester of glycerin. New steroids named colebrin A-E (1-5) are also identified. Two new C29 sterols, colebrin A and colebrin B, and clerosterol have also been isolated.
. Roots with bark are helpful in cough
, scrofulous affections and asthma
. The leaves are vermifuge and its juice is used to destroy threadworms. It is believed that the smell of the wood relieves children from many diseases. Leaves and roots are used by Manipuri
tribes for treatment of skin diseases, cough and dysentery
.
The tribal natives of Arunachal Pradesh
use the leaf juice mixed with garlic
extract given in treating blood pressure
or cooked leaf is taken for the same. Among the Mizos, leaves are cooked as vegetable, and is always a special ingredient in preparing dog meat. Locally known as 'Phuihnam' is popularly used to control hypertension
. It is now widely used as a popular household remedy for hypertension throughout north-eastern India.
. The crude and ethylacetate extracts of the leaves reportedly reduced total cholesterol
, triglyceride
s and LDL in high-fat diet fed rats. The methanolic extract and isolated glycosides called (sitosterol) of the leaves were shown to be significantly effective in reducing LDL in mice
. In addition to hypolipidemic activity, it causes dose-dependent hypoglycemic
effect, thereby, indicating the anti-diabetic property.
The leaf extract is demonstrated to increase the antioxidant
capacity of blood and had an inhibitory effect on the basal level of lipid peroxidation
of liver
and kidney
. It also protects against oxidative stress
and cellular injury associated with ischemic-reperfusion injury of rat heart, suggesting that the protective effects depend on antioxidant properties.
The plant extract also exhibited moderate anthelmintic
activity against the tapeworm, Raillietina echinobothrida
.
Shrub
A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...
belonging to the family
Family
In human context, a family is a group of people affiliated by consanguinity, affinity, or co-residence. In most societies it is the principal institution for the socialization of children...
Lamiaceae
Lamiaceae
The mints, taxonomically known as Lamiaceae or Labiatae, are a family of flowering plants. They have traditionally been considered closely related to Verbenaceae, but in the 1990s, phylogenetic studies suggested that many genera classified in Verbenaceae belong instead in Lamiaceae...
, but sometimes classified under Verbenaceae
Verbenaceae
Verbenaceae, commonly known as the verbena family or vervain family, is a family of mainly tropical flowering plants. It contains trees, shrubs and herbs notable for heads, spikes, or clusters of small flowers, many of which have an aromatic smell.Recent phylogenetic studies have shown that...
. It is one of the most well known among ~400 species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of Clerodendrum, as it is widely used in traditional practices, such as for vegetable
Vegetable
The noun vegetable usually means an edible plant or part of a plant other than a sweet fruit or seed. This typically means the leaf, stem, or root of a plant....
and treatments of diabetes, hypertension
Hypertension
Hypertension or high blood pressure is a cardiac chronic medical condition in which the systemic arterial blood pressure is elevated. What that means is that the heart is having to work harder than it should to pump the blood around the body. Blood pressure involves two measurements, systolic and...
, cough
Cough
A cough is a sudden and often repetitively occurring reflex which helps to clear the large breathing passages from secretions, irritants, foreign particles and microbes...
and rheumatism
Rheumatism
Rheumatism or rheumatic disorder is a non-specific term for medical problems affecting the joints and connective tissue. The study of, and therapeutic interventions in, such disorders is called rheumatology.-Terminology:...
.
The species is found in tropical
Tropics
The tropics is a region of the Earth surrounding the Equator. It is limited in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere at approximately N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere at S; these latitudes correspond to the axial tilt of the Earth...
and subtropical regions of Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
including India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Myanmar
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
, Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
, Malayasia, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, Bhutan
Bhutan
Bhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China...
and Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
; and also in temperate
Temperate
In geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally relatively moderate, rather than extreme hot or cold...
China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. In India it is confined to the north-east region including West Bengal
West Bengal
West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...
and Sikkim
Sikkim
Sikkim is a landlocked Indian state nestled in the Himalayan mountains...
, and is classified under the threat status as vulnerable
Vulnerable species
On 30 January 2010, the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species identified 9694 Vulnerable species, subspecies and varieties, stocks and sub-populations.-References:...
.
Description
C. colebrookianum is a flowering shrubShrub
A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...
or small tree
Tree
A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
, characterized by a foetid smell. It is erect reaches up to 1.5-3 m in height and is evergreen
Evergreen
In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant that has leaves in all seasons. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage during the winter or dry season.There are many different kinds of evergreen plants, both trees and shrubs...
. Branchlets are usually 4-angled when young. Leaves are simple, opposite or rarely whorled. Leaf base is wedge- shaped to heart-shaped, margin entire to slightly wavy, tip long-pointed to pointed. Flowers are white and borne in 4-6-branched corymbose cymes, at the end of branches. Inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
s loosely cymose or capitate, in terminal or rarely axillary paniculate thyrses. Calyx
Sepal
A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms . Collectively the sepals form the calyx, which is the outermost whorl of parts that form a flower. Usually green, sepals have the typical function of protecting the petals when the flower is in bud...
is campanulate or cup-shaped, densely pubescent. Corolla with a slender tube; lobes 5, spreading . Stamen
Stamen
The stamen is the pollen producing reproductive organ of a flower...
s 4, ovary
Ovary
The ovary is an ovum-producing reproductive organ, often found in pairs as part of the vertebrate female reproductive system. Ovaries in anatomically female individuals are analogous to testes in anatomically male individuals, in that they are both gonads and endocrine glands.-Human anatomy:Ovaries...
4-locular; ovule
Ovule
Ovule means "small egg". In seed plants, the ovule is the structure that gives rise to and contains the female reproductive cells. It consists of three parts: The integument forming its outer layer, the nucellus , and the megaspore-derived female gametophyte in its center...
s pendulous or laterally attached. Style
Gynoecium
Gynoecium is most commonly used as a collective term for all carpels in a flower. A carpel is the ovule and seed producing reproductive organ in flowering plants. Carpels are derived from ovule-bearing leaves which evolved to form a closed structure containing the ovules...
with 2 acute stigmatic lobes. Fruit is a drupe
Drupe
In botany, a drupe is a fruit in which an outer fleshy part surrounds a shell of hardened endocarp with a seed inside. These fruits develop from a single carpel, and mostly from flowers with superior ovaries...
with 4 1-seeded pyrenes, sometimes separating into 2 2-loculed or 4 1-locular mericarps. It flowers during postmonsoon
Monsoon
Monsoon is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation, but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with the asymmetric heating of land and sea...
, from August to December.
Chemical constituents
Major phytochemicals in the leaves of C. colebrookianum are saponins, flavonoids, alkaloids, tanninTannin
A tannin is an astringent, bitter plant polyphenolic compound that binds to and precipitates proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids.The term tannin refers to the use of...
, glycosides and reducing sugars. Novel compounds are identified such as colebroside A (1), a diglucoside of fatty acid
Fatty acid
In chemistry, especially biochemistry, a fatty acid is a carboxylic acid with a long unbranched aliphatic tail , which is either saturated or unsaturated. Most naturally occurring fatty acids have a chain of an even number of carbon atoms, from 4 to 28. Fatty acids are usually derived from...
ester of glycerin. New steroids named colebrin A-E (1-5) are also identified. Two new C29 sterols, colebrin A and colebrin B, and clerosterol have also been isolated.
Traditional Practices
It is a common medicinal plant used for rheumatic pains by the Khasi and Jaintia tribes of MeghalayaMeghalaya
Meghalaya is a state in north-eastern India. The word "Meghalaya" literally means the Abode of Clouds in Sanskrit and other Indic languages. Meghalaya is a hilly strip in the eastern part of the country about 300 km long and 100 km wide, with a total area of about 8,700 sq mi . The...
. Roots with bark are helpful in cough
Cough
A cough is a sudden and often repetitively occurring reflex which helps to clear the large breathing passages from secretions, irritants, foreign particles and microbes...
, scrofulous affections and asthma
Asthma
Asthma is the common chronic inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and bronchospasm. Symptoms include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath...
. The leaves are vermifuge and its juice is used to destroy threadworms. It is believed that the smell of the wood relieves children from many diseases. Leaves and roots are used by Manipuri
Manipuri
Manipuri is the synonym of Meetei or Meitei. Meetei is an endonym and Manipuri is an exonym.It may refer to:* Manipur, a state in northeastern India* Manipuri language, a Tibeto-Burman language also known as the Meeteilon...
tribes for treatment of skin diseases, cough and dysentery
Dysentery
Dysentery is an inflammatory disorder of the intestine, especially of the colon, that results in severe diarrhea containing mucus and/or blood in the faeces with fever and abdominal pain. If left untreated, dysentery can be fatal.There are differences between dysentery and normal bloody diarrhoea...
.
The tribal natives of Arunachal Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh is a state of India, located in the far northeast. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south, and shares international borders with Burma in the east, Bhutan in the west, and the People's Republic of China in the north. The majority of the territory is claimed by...
use the leaf juice mixed with garlic
Garlic
Allium sativum, commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion genus, Allium. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, and rakkyo. Dating back over 6,000 years, garlic is native to central Asia, and has long been a staple in the Mediterranean region, as well as a frequent...
extract given in treating blood pressure
Blood pressure
Blood pressure is the pressure exerted by circulating blood upon the walls of blood vessels, and is one of the principal vital signs. When used without further specification, "blood pressure" usually refers to the arterial pressure of the systemic circulation. During each heartbeat, BP varies...
or cooked leaf is taken for the same. Among the Mizos, leaves are cooked as vegetable, and is always a special ingredient in preparing dog meat. Locally known as 'Phuihnam' is popularly used to control hypertension
Hypertension
Hypertension or high blood pressure is a cardiac chronic medical condition in which the systemic arterial blood pressure is elevated. What that means is that the heart is having to work harder than it should to pump the blood around the body. Blood pressure involves two measurements, systolic and...
. It is now widely used as a popular household remedy for hypertension throughout north-eastern India.
Scientific Evidences
The most notable medicinal value is the hypotensive activity for people suffering from acute high blood pressureHypertension
Hypertension or high blood pressure is a cardiac chronic medical condition in which the systemic arterial blood pressure is elevated. What that means is that the heart is having to work harder than it should to pump the blood around the body. Blood pressure involves two measurements, systolic and...
. The crude and ethylacetate extracts of the leaves reportedly reduced total cholesterol
Cholesterol
Cholesterol is a complex isoprenoid. Specifically, it is a waxy steroid of fat that is produced in the liver or intestines. It is used to produce hormones and cell membranes and is transported in the blood plasma of all mammals. It is an essential structural component of mammalian cell membranes...
, triglyceride
Triglyceride
A triglyceride is an ester derived from glycerol and three fatty acids. There are many triglycerides, depending on the oil source, some are highly unsaturated, some less so....
s and LDL in high-fat diet fed rats. The methanolic extract and isolated glycosides called (sitosterol) of the leaves were shown to be significantly effective in reducing LDL in mice
Mouse
A mouse is a small mammal belonging to the order of rodents. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse . It is also a popular pet. In some places, certain kinds of field mice are also common. This rodent is eaten by large birds such as hawks and eagles...
. In addition to hypolipidemic activity, it causes dose-dependent hypoglycemic
Hypoglycemia
Hypoglycemia or hypoglycæmia is the medical term for a state produced by a lower than normal level of blood glucose. The term literally means "under-sweet blood"...
effect, thereby, indicating the anti-diabetic property.
The leaf extract is demonstrated to increase the antioxidant
Antioxidant
An antioxidant is a molecule capable of inhibiting the oxidation of other molecules. Oxidation is a chemical reaction that transfers electrons or hydrogen from a substance to an oxidizing agent. Oxidation reactions can produce free radicals. In turn, these radicals can start chain reactions. When...
capacity of blood and had an inhibitory effect on the basal level of lipid peroxidation
Lipid peroxidation
Lipid peroxidation refers to the oxidative degradation of lipids. It is the process in which free radicals "steal" electrons from the lipids in cell membranes, resulting in cell damage. This process proceeds by a free radical chain reaction mechanism...
of liver
Liver
The liver is a vital organ present in vertebrates and some other animals. It has a wide range of functions, including detoxification, protein synthesis, and production of biochemicals necessary for digestion...
and kidney
Kidney
The kidneys, organs with several functions, serve essential regulatory roles in most animals, including vertebrates and some invertebrates. They are essential in the urinary system and also serve homeostatic functions such as the regulation of electrolytes, maintenance of acid–base balance, and...
. It also protects against oxidative stress
Oxidative stress
Oxidative stress represents an imbalance between the production and manifestation of reactive oxygen species and a biological system's ability to readily detoxify the reactive intermediates or to repair the resulting damage...
and cellular injury associated with ischemic-reperfusion injury of rat heart, suggesting that the protective effects depend on antioxidant properties.
The plant extract also exhibited moderate anthelmintic
Anthelmintic
Anthelmintics or antihelminthics are drugs that expel parasitic worms from the body, by either stunning or killing them. They may also be called vermifuges or vermicides .-Pharmaceutical classes:...
activity against the tapeworm, Raillietina echinobothrida
Raillietina echinobothrida
Raillietina echinobothrida is a parasitic tapeworm belonging to the class Cestoda. It is the most prevalent and pathogenic helminth parasite in birds, particularly in domestic fowl, Gallus domesticus Linnaeus, 1758. It requires two hosts, birds and ants, for completion of its life cycle. It is a...
.