Traditional uses of medicinal plants in gastrointestinal disorders in Nepal

0439583 - ÚVGZ 2015 RIV IE eng J - Journal Article
Rokaya, Maan Bahadur - Uprety, Y. - Poudel, R. C. - Timsina, Binu - Munzbergová, Z. - Asselin, H. - Tiwari, A. - Shrestha, S. S. - Sidgel, S. R.
Traditional uses of medicinal plants in gastrointestinal disorders in Nepal.
Journal of Ethnopharmacology. Roč. 158, Part A (2014), s. 221-229. ISSN 0378-8741. E-ISSN 1872-7573
R&D Projects: GA MŠMT(CZ) ED1.1.00/02.0073
Institutional support: RVO:67179843
Keywords : medicinal plants * principal component analysis * randomization test * ethnomedicine * drug development
Subject RIV: EH - Ecology, Behaviour
Impact factor: 2.998, year: 2014

Ethnopharmacological relevance Gastrointestinal disorders cause morbidity and can lead to mortality, especially in the developing world where sanitation is deficient. A large part of the human population relies on medicinal plants for treating various diseases, including gastrointestinal disorders. The present review summarizes the traditional uses of medicinal plants of Nepal used to treat gastrointestinal disorders, and evaluates their bio-efficacy based on a review of the available phytochemical and pharmacological literature. Material and methods We searched different electronic databases and libraries for the literature on medicinal plants used in Nepal to treat gastrointestinal disorders. For each species, we also searched the literature for information on conservation status, as well as for phytochemical and pharmacological studies in support of the ethnobotanical information. We used principal component analysis to explore the relation among disorders and plant families, plant life forms, plant parts and preparation modes. We also performed permutation tests to determine if botanical families were used more often than expected considering their availability in the Nepali flora. Results We documented a total of 947 species belonging to 158 families and 586 genera used to treat gastrointestinal disorders in Nepal. Diarrhea was the disorder treated by the highest number of species (348), followed by stomachache (340) and dysentery (307). Among the reported species, five were endemic to Nepal, whereas 16 orchid species were protected under CITES Appendices II and III. The randomization test showed that species belonging to 14 families were used less often than expected, whereas plants belonging to 25 families were used more often than expected. The PCA scatter plot showed distinct groups of gastrointestinal disorders treated with similar plant life forms, plant parts, and/or preparation modes.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0242831