|
 Botany
Adelfa is an erect, smooth
shrub, 1.5 to 3 meters high with a cream-colored, sticky, resinous
juice. Leaves are in whorls of 3 or 4, linear-lanceolate, 10 to15
centimeters long, with numerous horizontal nerves. Flowers are showy,
sweet-scented, single or double, 4 to 5 centimeters in diameter, white, pink,
or red, borne on terminal inflorescences (cymes). Fruit is cylindric,
paired, with deep linear striations, 15 to 20 centimeters long. Seeds are
numerous and compressed, with a tuft of fine, shining, white and grayish,
silky hairs.
Distribution
- Throughout the Philippines in cultivation.
- Nowhere established.
- Introduced by the Spaniards.
- Native of subtropical or tropical Asia.
- Now pantropic.
Constituents
- Phytochemical screening has yielded cardiac glycosides, pregnanes, terpenes flavonoids, etc.
- Study yielded
glycoside, oleadrin; tannin;
volatile oil, 0.25%.
- Yielded two principles: neriin and oleandrin,
glucosides with properties similar to digitalin.
- The seeds yield fat 17.4%, phytosterin and l-strophanthin.
-
Bark contains
toxic glycosides: rosaginin and nerlin, volatile oil, fixed oil.
- Nerium odorum's bark yielded two toxic bitter principles–neriodorin
and neriodorein. Another toxic principle is karabin. Both karabin and
neriodorin are probably resins, rather than glucosides.
- Roots yield a yellow, poisonous resin, tannic acid, wax, and sugar, but no alkaloid or volatile poison.
- Study isolated 14 compounds: a new prenane, 14α,16-dihydroxy-3-oxo-γ-lactone-pregn-4-en-21-oic acid (16β,17α), and thirteen known cardiac glycosides:oleandrin, oleandrigenin, neriosid, nerigoside,16,17-didehydrosomalin, oleaside A, adynerin, odoroside-A , 3β-hydroxy-5β-carda-8β,14β,20,(22)-trienolid, odoroside H, deacetyloandrin, adynerigenin,3β-hydroxy-5α-8β,14β-epoxy-card-20(22)-enolid.
Properties
- Leaves and flowers are considered
cardiotonic, diaphoretic, diuretic, emetic and expectorant.
-
Whole plant
believed to have anticancer, antiinflammatory, antibacterial, sedating, and anthelmintic effects.
- The pharmacologic actions of
of neriin and oleandrin resemble those of digitalis glucosides. In human
beings, toxicity manifests as nausea, vomiting, colic, decreased appetite,
dizziness, drowsiness, bradycardia and irregular heart beats, pupillary
dilation, and sometimes unconsciousness attributed to digitalis poisoning.
- Reported biologic activities to include anti-inflammatory, sedative, anti-bacterial, csrdiac, anti-neoplastic and anthelmintic.
Parts used
and preparation
Bark and leaves.
Uses
Folkloric
- Herpes zoster (skin):
Crush leaves, mix with oil and apply on lesions. Do not apply on raw
surface. Milky juice of the plant is irritating. Caution: Not to be
taken internally.
- Herpes simplex: Mix 1 cup of chopped leaves and bark with 2 tablespoons
of oil. Apply to lesions 3 times daily.
- Ringworm: Chop a foot long branch and mix with 1 cup chopped fresh
young leaves. Mix the juice with 5 drops of fresh coconut oil. Apply
3 times daily.
- Snake bites: Pound 10 leaves and a piece of branch. Apply poultice
to the wound.
- Root used, locally and internally, by women in western and southern India and in the central Malay Peninsula for suicide and for procuring criminal abortion.
- Past of bark of the roots is applied externally for ringworm.
- Used in leprosy, skin eruptions, and boils.
- In the Punjab and Cashmere areas, roots are used for asthma.
- Leaves used in the treatment of malaria and dysmenorrhea; also used as abortifacient.
- Roots, made into paste with water, used for hemorrhoids.
- Leaves and bark used externally for eczema, snake bites and as insecticide; internally, used for epilepsy.
- Dried leaves used as sternutatory.
- Infusion of leaves and fruit used a cardiac regulator.
- In Morocco, fresh leaves applied to tumors to hasten suppuration.
- In traditional Chinese medicine, the flowers and leaves have been
used to stimulate the cardiac muscles, relieve pain and eliminate blood
stasis.
Studies
 - Molluscicidal activity of Nerium indicum bark:
The study showed the bark of Nerium indicum as an important source of
botanical molluscicide and is an effective insecticide against Blatta
orientalis. Glycosides, steroids and terpenoids were also isolated from
Nerium indicum.
• Primary Metabolites: Study on the quantification of primary metabolites in N.
indicum yielded carbohydrates, proteins, phenols, lipids, etc. N. indicum's
stem contains higher levels of phenol which has immuno-modulating, anti-tumour
and antibacterial activities.
• Tincture Cardiovascular Effect: Tincture Karveer is a potent cardiotonic
drug which is also purported to relieve symptoms of Cor pulmonale as
a bronchodilator and cough sedative. The tincture is considered safe
and helpful, and promising for the treatment of CHF in humans.
• Neuroprotective: Study
of isolated polysaccharides from the flowers of N. indicum (J6) showed
potential as a neuroprotective agent against neuronal death in Alzheimer's
disease through a mechanism that may primarily rely on inactivation
of the JNK signaling pathway.
• Polysaccharides
/ Nerve Growth Factor-like Effect: Study
of polysaccharides J1 (a rhamnogalacturonan) and J2 (a xyloglucan) from
the whole flowers of N. indicum were tested on the proliferation and
differentiation of PC12 pheochromocytoma cells and found to have nerve
growth factor-life effect.
• Analgesic: Study of extract
of flowers and roots of N. indicum showed promising antinociceptive
activity mediated through the prostaglandin pathways with analgesic
principles interfering with the biosynthesis of prostaglandins.
• Larvicidal: Study of
larvicidal lethality of extracts of lattices of N indicum and E royleana
on Culex quinquefasciatus showed significant delay in embryonic development
of Culex larvae.
• Antimicrobial / Antifungal:
In a study of the ethanolic extracts of dried leaves of N. indicum
and Martynia annua, N indicum showed significant antibacterial and antifungal
activity compared to M. annua.
• Anti-Angiogenesis: Study yielded three oligosaccharides. Bioactivity angiogenesis testing showed two of the oligosaccharides significantly inhibited the HMEC-1 cell tube formation.
• Cytotoxicity / Anticancer: Most of the compounds isolated from the leaves of N. indicum exhibited strong cytotoxicity against HeLa cell. Odoroside-A exhibited the strongest cytotoxicity.
• Molluscicidal: Study of different bark preparations showed varying degrees of time- and dose-dependent molluscicidal activity.
• Anti-Ulcer: Study of a methanol extract against pylorus-induced gastric ulcer and indomethacin-induced ulcer in rats showed significant antiulcer activity in all models with significant reduction of gastric volume, free acidity, and ulcer index. Results suggest an antisecretory effect.
• Anti-Diabetic: Study investigated the antidiabetic activity of a leaf extract in alloxan-induced diabetic albino rats. Results showed significant antidiabetic activity. The antihyperglycemic action of the extracts may be due to improvement of the glycemic control mechanisms.
• CNS Effects / Sedative / Hypnotic : Study on behavior pattern in mice showed fractions of leaves extract induced sedation at low dose and hypnosis at high doses. Fractions also showed significant decrease in locomotion counts, decrease in motor performances and enhancement of hexobarbital sleeping time. Effects are possibly through GABA-ergic modifications.
• Anti-HIV / Anticancer: In a small clinical trial (20 patients in a DB, placebo controlled study) in a Johannesburg AIDS clinic evaluating the effectiveness of supplements ingredients (Nerium oleander and Sutherlandia frutescens) against HIV results showed significant improvement with an increase in CD4 count while the placebo group declined.
• Hepatoprotective: A methanolic plant extract showed remarkable hepatoprotective activity against carbon-tetrachloride induced hepatotoxicity in rats.
• Toxicity Studies: (1) Study evaluated the toxic effects of a crude watery extract in male adult guinea pigs. The lowest nonlethal dose was 300 mg/kbw and doses of 450 to 900 caused varying frequency of mortality. The LD50 is 540 mg/kbw. (2) Study reported clinical, ECG, and pathologic findings in goats consistenet with those reported in sheep and cattle. Main signs were related to the gastrointestinal and cardiovascular systems. Study concludes goat is susceptible to oleander toxicosis just like other domestic ruminants. However, the unpalatable nature of the plant and the selective feeding habit of the goat, make poisoning in this species infrequent.
Availability
Wild-crafted |
