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The anti-inflammatory properties of Acanthus Ebracteatus, Barleria Lupulina and Clinacanthus Nutans: a systematic review

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Abstract

This appraisal is comprised of the inflammatory studies that have been conducted on Clinacanthus nutans, Acanthus ebracteatus, and Barleria lupulina. The review aims to provide a comprehensive evaluation of the supporting and contradictory evidence on each plants’ anti-inflammatory properties, whilst addressing the gaps in the current literature. The databases used to obtain relevant studies were Google Scholar, ResearchGate, PubMed and Nusearch (University of Nottingham). A total of 13 articles were selected for this review. A. ebracteatus was found to suppress neutrophil migration and weakly inhibits chronic inflammatory cytokines. Furthermore, B. lupulina and C. nutans were shown to possess very similar anti-inflammatory properties. The studies on C. nutans indicated that its anti-inflammatory effect is strongly related to the inhibition of toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4). Moreover, several phytoconstituents isolated from B. lupulina were shown to activate the anti-inflammatory Nrf2 pathway. Overall, all the studies have provided evidence to support the use of these plants as anti-inflammatory herbal remedies. However, their exact mechanism of action and the responsible phytoconstituents are yet to be established.

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modified from previous systematic reviews [40, 41]

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Funding

The current work was supported by the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS), Ministry of Education Malaysia (MOE), Grant Number FRGS/1/2018/SKK08/UNIM/02/2.

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  1. School of Pharmacy, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK

    Naomi Temitope Olubusola Ilori

  2. Division of Biomedical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Nottingham Malaysia, 43500, Semenyih, Selangor, Malaysia

    Crystal Xiao-Qi Liew & Chee-Mun Fang

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  1. Naomi Temitope Olubusola Ilori
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Ilori, N.T.O., Liew, C.XQ. & Fang, CM. The anti-inflammatory properties of Acanthus Ebracteatus, Barleria Lupulina and Clinacanthus Nutans: a systematic review. Mol Biol Rep 47, 9883–9894 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-020-06025-x

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