A Close Look at Echium Amoenum Processing, Neuroactive Components, and Effects on Neuropsychiatric Disorders
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GMJ.2019;8:e1559 www.gmj.ir Received 2019-04-02 Revised 2019-07-21 Accepted 2019-08-12 A Close Look at Echium amoenum Processing, Neuroactive Components, and Effects on Neuropsychiatric Disorders Mohammad Nouri1,2, Fereshteh Farajdokht1, Mohammadali Torbati3, Fatemeh Ranjbar4, Sanaz Hamedyazdan5, Mostafa Araj-khodaei2,6, Saeed Sadigh-Eteghad1 1 Neurosciences Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran 2 Department of Persian Medicine, School of Traditional Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran 3 School of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran 4 Psychiatry Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran 5 Drug Applied Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran 6 Aging Research Institute, Tabriz University of Medical Science, Tabriz, Iran Abstract Pharmacological researches in the area of herbal medicine have considerably increased over the last two centuries. Echium amoenum (known as Gol-e-Gavzaban in Persian) is a medicinal plant that has been widely used in Iranian folk medicine. In this review, databases including PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar were searched up. Data collecting was completed by January 2019 and available scientific reports regarding the processing methods, main chemical constituents, and effects of E. amoenum on different neuropsychiatric disorders are summarized. Thirteen five studies met the inclusion criteria. According to results, the important phytochemicals of the plant was phenolic compounds, fatty acids, rosmarinic acid, anthocyanidins, and flavonoids. Also, experimental and clinical studies demonstrated the effectiveness of E. amoenum in the treatment of several neuropsychiatric disorders such as anxiety, depression, ischemic stroke, seizure, Alzheimer’s disease, and pain. Many of these effects are, at least in part, due to its rosmarinic acid or polyphenolic compounds such as flavonoids and natural pigments such as anthocyanins. Also, fatty acids such as gamma-linolenic acid play critical role in neuroactive properties of this herb. Among these effects, only the antidepressant and anxiolytic properties of the plant extract have been examined both experimentally and clinically. There was some controversy over its toxicity effects. It seems that E. amoenum protects neurons via attenuation of oxidative stress and inflammation as well as blocking of apoptosis in the nervous system. However, more studies are necessary for assessing exact mechanisms of action in neuropsychiatric disorders, finding of bioactive ingredients, and processing methods of this plant. [GMJ.2019;8:e1559] DOI:10.31661/gmj.v8i0.1559 Keywords:Echium amoenum; Rosmarinic Acid; Phenolic Compound; Antioxidant; Anti-in- flammatory; Neuropsychiatric Disorders; Persian Medicine GMJ Correspondence to: Mostafa Araj-khodaei, MD,Ph.D., Department of Per- Copyright© 2019, Galen Medical Journal. This is sian Medicine, School of Traditional Medicine, Tabriz an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Telephone Number: +989128382094 Email:[email protected] Email Address: [email protected] Nouri M, et al. Effect of E. amoenum on Neuropsychiatric Diseases Effect of E. amoenum on Neuropsychiatric Diseases Nouri M, et al. Introduction linoleic acid, and stearic acid [10]. Nutrition- al compositions of E. amoenum (Figure-1) ver the past decade, the use of medicinal include phosphorous, calcium, iron, vitamin Oplant products gain more attention com- C, beta-carotene, niacin, riboflavin, thiamine, pared to synthetic chemical drugs possibly due and silicic acid [11]. Its bioactive compo- to their lighter side effects [1]. According to nents are used as a novel source of materi- the World Health Organization at least 80% of als in food, drug, and cosmetic industries. people worldwide, particularly in developing The advantages of this plant have initially countries, trust herbal medicine for primary been found by the Romans 300 B.C [12]. The healthcare [2, 3]. Echium amoenum Fisch & sedative and mood enhancer effects of this Mey, belonging to Boraginaceae family, is a plant have been reported in Persian medicine famous biennial Iranian medicinal plant which (PM) manuscripts, for instance, the Tohfat-Al- is naturally grown North of Iran, and also in Hakim, Makhzanoladvieh, and Canon of med- Europe and Mediterranean regions [4]. The icine [13, 14]. It is widely used for subsiding E. amoenum is different in genus and species common cold symptoms such as sore throat, from the borage grown in Europe, Borago coughing, and pneumonia in PM. Anti-inflam- officinalis L. (Boraginaceae). The E. amoe- matory, antibacterial, antioxidant, analgesic, num has russet-red and funnel-shaped flowers anxiolytic, sedative, antidepressant, and im- that after drying can be seen in violet-blue, munomodulatory effects of this plant have while B. officinalis has bright-blue and star- been reported in recent studies [15]. Benefi- shaped flowers [5]. The main medicinal parts cial effects of aqueous extract of this plant in of the E. amoenum plant are flowers and the the management of the obsessive-compulsive hairy lance-shaped leaves which have been disorder, anxiety, depression, seizure, pain, used for therapeutic purposes in different brain ischemia, and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) parts of the world [6, 7]. Phytochemical re- have also been reported [16-21]. The aqueous search showed that E. amoenum contains dif- extract of E. amoenum petals has also been ferent bioactive compounds such as rosmarin- reported to reduce blood lipid peroxidation ic acid (RA), anthocyanidins, flavonoids, the levels and increase total antioxidant capacity trace of alkaloids, saponins, unsaturated ter- (TAC) and total thiol in human, suggesting its penoids, and sterols [8, 9]. The main essential potential antioxidant activity [22]. Moreover, oils of E. amoenum flowers are palmitic acid E. amoenum extract is capable of diminishing n-tricosane, linoleic acid, n-pentacosane, and inducible NO synthase (iNOS), and cycloox- pulegone [10]. Moreover, the main fatty acids ygenase-2 (COX-2) enzymes activities, and of E. amoenum seeds are linoleic acid, linoleic decrease pro-inflammatory cytokines levels acid, oleic acid, palmitic acid, gadoleic acid, such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, in- Figure 1. Schematic shows neuroactive components of Echium amoenum and their effects on different neuropsychiatric disorders. 2 GMJ.2019;8:e1559 www.gmj.ir Effect of E. amoenum on Neuropsychiatric Diseases Nouri M, et al. terleukin (IL)-1β, and IL-6 [23]. Despite the which are discussed in this review. extensive use of E. amoenum, there is no com- prehensive review regarding its neurological Discussion activities and the chemical constituents. In this review, we summarized the applications 1. Effect of Environmental Factors and Pro- of E. amoenum in the treatment of different cessing Methods On Bioactivity of E. amoe- neuropsychiatric disorders and its possible num mechanisms of action. The results of this re- 1.1. Environmental Factors view may provide strong evidence for the ef- Several factors such as climate, harvesting fectiveness of E. amoenum related products in time, geographical location, as well as parts the neurosciences. of the plant, and methods of drying or extrac- tion can affect the constituents of E. amoenum Search Strategies [10, 24]. Interestingly, evidence shows that extracts from different organs of E. amoenum Multiple databases including PubMed, Scop- such as stem, seeds, or petals have different us, and Google Scholar were searched up with amounts of phenolic compounds and antiox- the exact keyword “Echium amoenum” to idant activity. Moreover, geographical loca- get recent researches relevant to the use of E. tions affect the bioactivity of E. amoenum. For amoenum in the treatment of neuropsychiatric instance, seed and stem extracts of E. amoe- disorders. Data collecting was completed by num from Northern cities of Iran with humid January 2019. Search keywords were “Echi- and cold weather, have the highest antioxidant um amoenum” AND “cognition” OR “brain activity and total phenolic contents [25]. An- function” OR “brain structure” OR “oxida- other study also reported that the content of tive stress” OR “antioxidant” OR “psychia- anthocyanins and flavonoids of E. amoenum try” OR “psychology” OR “depression” OR are augmented with increased altitude and de- “anxiety” OR “Alzheimer” OR “Alzheimer’s creased temperature [26]. Moreover, soil sa- disease” OR “stroke” OR “ischemia” OR linity could affect ion concentrations of flow- “neuroinflammation” OR “toxicity” were the ers, leaves, and stem of E. amoenum so that keywords used in the search process. The pa- a high concentration of salt in soil decreases pers focusing on the effect of this plant on the K and Ca contents while increases Na content nervous system as well as the phytochemical [27]. and pharmacological properties of E. amoe- num were collected. However, studies related 1.2. Drying to agriculture and genetics were excluded. To ensure the quality of medicinal plants and their products, the proper parts of the medic- Results inal plant must be harvested during the opti- mal stage of development. Drying is a stand- In the first step, 186 studies were found. Af- ard way for conservation of medicinal plants ter applying the exclusion criteria, 35 stud-