 Botany
Sansau is a slender, more or less hairy or nearly smooth, woody twiner. Leaves are oval or heart-shaped, 2 to 7 centimeters long, with a pointed or usually apiculate apex, cordate or subtruncate broadbase, usually slightly peltate. Male panicles are slender, 3 to 6 centimeters long, hairy, usually diffuse, with very small, greenish flowers. Female racemes are 2 to 6 centimeters long, with green, kidney-shaped, 1- to 1.5-centimeters long bracts. Fruit is fleshy, nearly spherical, red, 5 to 7 millimeters in diameter, and somewhat hairy. Endocarp is transversely ridged, and tuberculate. Seeds are horse-shoe shaped.
Distribution
- In thickets at low and medium altitudes throughout the Philippines.
- Pantropic.
Constituents
- Main chemical constituents are alkaloids, arachidic acid, bebeerine, berberine, bulbocapnine, cissamine, cissampareine among many others. source
- Roots yield pelosin or cissampeline (identical to berberine), and another alkaloid, serperine.
- Plant yields isoquinoline alkaloids; tetrandrine, the most documented of 38 alkaloids.
- A yellow, bitter matter is considered the active principle.
- Phytochemical screening yielded the presence of flavonoids, saponins, triterpenoids, alkaloids, proteins, gums, fatty oils, mucilage, carbohydrates, resins and tannins.
Properties
Roots considered diuretic, emmenagogue, emetic, febrifugal, lithotriptic, pectoral and purgative.
Leaves are considered cooling, stomachic.
Tetrandrine considered analgesic, anti-inflammatory and febrifuge.
Berberine considered antifungal, hypotensive and antimicrobial.
Parts used
Leaves, roots, seeds, bark.
Uses
Folkloric
Pounded leaves used for snake bites, abscesses, and wounds.
Leaves and roots used for treatment of ulcers.
Leaves used for scabies.
In India, used as stomachic.
Roots used as diuretic.
Decoction or extract of the root is used for acute and chronic cystitis.
In Mexico, infusion of roots used for nephritic colic and vesicular calculus.
Root used as emmenagogue; for treatment of urinary and venereal diseases.
Used for snake bites and scorpion stings.
Used as tonic.
In Reunion and Madagascar, used to dissolve stones.
In some places in India, commonly used as antifertility agent.
In South America, called Midwives' herb, with its long history of use for women's ailments.
In the Amazon, used for menstrual cramps, menorrhagia, pre- and post-natal pains.
In Guyana, poultice of leaves used topically for pain relief.
The Creoles in Guyana soak the leaves, bark and roots in rum for use as aphrodisiac.
In Peru, seeds used for snakebites, fevers, venereal diseases; as diuretic and expectorant. Also, leaf tea used for rheumatism and a wood-bark tea used for irregular heartbeats and excessive menstrual bleeding.
Others
Bast fibers of the bark are made into rope.
Roots are used as fish poison.
Studies
• Antioxidant / Immunomodulatory: Study of the alkaloidal fraction of roots of C. pareira showed immunosuppressive and antioxidant activities.The antioxidant activity may be due to the presence of both tetrandrine and berberine.
• Gastrointestinal Effects / Antidiarrheal: Study of the ethanolic extract of roots of CP exhibited a dose-dependent inhibition of castor-oil induced diarrhea while also significantly and dose-dependently reducing intestinal fluid accumulation and gastrointestinal transit.
• Antifertility: Study of the leaf extract in female albino mice showed an antifertility effect, altering the pattern and prolonging the length of the estrous cycle with a significant increase in the duration of diestrus stage and significant reduction of number of litters. Hormone analysis showed altered gonadotropin release (LH, FSH and prolactin) and estradiol secretion.
• Chemopreventive / Anti-Gastric Cancer: (1) Study of the hydroalcohol extractof roots of CP forestomach cancer and carcinogen metabolizing enzymes showed the enhanced GSH level and enzyme activities involved in xenobiotic metabolism and maintenance of antioxidant status of the cells suggest a chemopreventive efficacy of CP against chemotoxicity, including carcinogenicity. (2) Study on the protective effects of CPE in mice showed a protective effect against induced gastric cancer with reduction of tumor incidence, significant reduction of mean number of tumor and significant reduction of tumor multiplicity.
• Antinociceptive / Antiarthritic: Study of aqueous extract of roots exhibited significant resistance against mechanical pain. It also showed significant dose-dependent protective effect against complete Freund's adjuvant induced arthritis.
• Anti-Inflammatory: Study data indicate CP roots extract possesses significant anti-inflammatory activity without ulcerogenic activity suggesting a potential as an anti-inflammatory agent for use in inflammatory diseases.
• Gastroprotective / Anti-Ulcer: Study isolated a flavonoid, quercetin, from C. pareira, and showed significant antiulcer property against gastric ulcers in different acute models. C. pareira significantly enhanced the defense factors while signicantly reducing the ulcer index in ethanol-induced ulcers.
• Analgesic / Anti-Inflammatory: Extract study showed significant dose-dependent activity in carrageenin testing, based on interference with prostaglandin synthesis, confirmed by arachidonic acid test. LD50 also showed low toxicity.
• Tumor Inhibitors / Cytotoxicity: Study yielded a new alkaloid, cissampareine and four other bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloids. The alkaloid compounds showed significant and reproducible inhibitory activity against human carcinoma of the nasopharynx carried in cell culture (KB).
• Diuretic: In a comparative evaluation of the diuretic potential of the methanolic root extracts of C. pareira, Cyclea peltata and Stephania japonica, all the extracts showed dose-dependent diuretic effects. (C. peltata showed the highest diuretic activity).
Availability
Wild-crafted.
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