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. 2023 Jul 26;28(15):5653.
doi: 10.3390/molecules28155653.

Plectranthus Species with Anti-Inflammatory and Analgesic Potential: A Systematic Review on Ethnobotanical and Pharmacological Findings

Maysa de Oliveira Barbosa  1 , Polrat Wilairatana  2 , Giovana Mendes de Lacerda Leite  1 , Gyllyandeson de Araújo Delmondes  3 , Lucas Yure Santos da Silva  1 , Silvio Caetano Alves Júnior  4 , Lindaiane Bezerra Rodrigues Dantas  1 , Daniel Souza Bezerra  1 , Izabel Cristina Santiago Lemos de Beltrão  1 , Diógenes de Queiroz Dias  1 , Jaime Ribeiro-Filho  4 , Cícero Francisco Bezerra Felipe  5 , Henrique Douglas Melo Coutinho  1 , Irwin Rose Alencar de Menezes  1 , Marta Regina Kerntopf Mendonça  1
Affiliations

Plectranthus Species with Anti-Inflammatory and Analgesic Potential: A Systematic Review on Ethnobotanical and Pharmacological Findings

Maysa de Oliveira Barbosa et al. Molecules. .

Abstract

The use of medicinal plants to treat inflammatory conditions and painful processes has attracted the attention of scientists and health professionals due to the evidence that natural products can promote significant therapeutic benefits associated with fewer adverse effects compared to conventional anti-inflammatory drugs. The genus Plectranthus is composed of various plants with pharmacological potential, which are used to treat various diseases in traditional communities worldwide. The present study systematically reviewed Plectranthus species with anti-inflammatory and analgesic potential. To this end, a systematic review was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocol. The search was conducted on the following databases: PubMed, ScienceDirect, SciVerse Scopus, and Web of Science. Different combinations of search terms were used to ensure more excellent article coverage. After the selection, a total of 45 articles were included in this review. This study identified twelve Plectranthus species indicated for the treatment of different inflammatory conditions, such as wounds, fever, bronchitis, abscess, asthma, hepatitis, labyrinthitis, tonsillitis, and uterine inflammation. The indications for pain conditions included headache, sore throat, heartburn, menstrual cramp, colic, toothache, stomachache, migraine, chest pain, abdominal pain, local pain, labor pain, and recurring pain. Among the listed species, ten plants were found to be used according to traditional knowledge, although only four of them have been experimentally studied. When assessing the methodological quality of preclinical in vivo assays, most items presented a risk of bias. The SR results revealed the existence of different Plectranthus species used to treat inflammation and pain. The results of this systematic review indicate that Plectranthus species have the potential to be used in the treatment of diseases with an inflammatory component, as well as in the management of pain. However, given the risk of biases, the experimental analysis of these species through preclinical testing is crucial for their safe and effective use.

Keywords: Plectranthus; ethnobotany; ethnopharmacology; inflammation; nociception; pharmacological trials; systematic review.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The flowchart diagram describing step by step the articles analysis process of eligible studies included in this systematic review.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Ethnobotanical surveys data and pharmacological trials: distribution of articles over the years (A) and total number of citations of each eligible Plectranthus species (B) included in this systematic review.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Percentage of the methodological quality evaluation results from the articles concerning the ten items.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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