Context: Uraria lagopodies DC. (Fabaceae) is currently used as a traditional  medicinal plant in many small communities of Bangladesh, India, Africa and other  countries in the world.
Objective: This text offers a review on U. lagopodies. 
Methods: A search was made in the electronic databases such as PubMed, Science  Direct and Google scholar for the published articles till January 31, 2017.
Results and ?conclusion: The findings suggest that the plant is rich in flavonoids  and glycosides and it possesses a number of important biological activities, including  antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, cytotoxic, anti-diarrheal, analgesic and  others. U. lagopodies may be a good contributor of plant-based modern medicines.

 Phytochemicals;Traditional uses;Therapeutic promises.

Islam MT (2017) A Phyto-Pharmacological-Based Review on Uraria lagopodies. J Cancer Biol Res 5(2): 1100

Uraria lagopodies DC (synonym: Uraria lagopodioides (L.) Desv also called Uraria lagopoides) (Fabaceae) is a shrub. In Bangladesh, it is mainly found in Sal forests of Gazipur and Tangail. However, it is also found in Chittagong hill-tracts. It has a large geographical distribution, including tropical Africa, southern and south-east Asia, and Australia. The Bengali/vernacular name of this plant is lata-chakuley, chakuley, chakulia, gurkha-chakulia and golak-chakulia [1-3].

Traditionally, the plant is used as an abortifacient, aphrodisiac, laxative; and used in remittent fever, asthma, dysentery as well as for the treatment of chest inflammation. The decoction of the leaf is used for diarrhea. Moreover, the plant is also used in rheumatism, bleeding piles, catarrh and scorpion-sting [1,2]. The shoot extract of this plant is evident for oxytocic and antiimplantation activity [3]. The scientific evidence of this plant is very limited. This review provides an up to date compilation of its phytochemical and pharmacological profiles.

Stratagem

A search was made in the PuBMed, Science Direct and Google scholar databases with the keyword ‘Uraria lagopodies’, which was then paired with ‘morphology’, ‘traditional/ethno pharmacological uses’, ‘phytochemicals’ and ‘pharmacological activities’. The obtained evidences were included and excluded as follows:

Inclusion criteria:

a) In vitro, ex vivo and in vivo studies on U. lagopodies

b) Phytochemical and/or pharmacological reports on U. lagopodies

c) Reports on extract(s) or isolated compound(s) and their activities

Exclusion criteria:

a) Data not related to the focusing study.

b) Reports on other species of Uraria genus.

c) Data duplication.

Findings

To date, a total 34 articles were found in which PubMed, Google scholar and Science Direct belonged to 19, 10 and 5 respectively. After exclusion, 9 were included in this study.

Plant morphology

U. lagopodies (Figure 1)

Figure 1: Uraria lagopodies DC. [A. aerial parts, B. flower, C. mature fruit body]

is a prostrate and ascending woody small shrub (30-90 cm long). Leaves are 2.5-5 cm long; leaflets solitary or 3-foliolate; oblong, rhomboid, rounded, hairy beneath. The racemes are denser, oblong, 2.5-6.3 cm long and 2 cm in width. Flowers are white, pods 3.8 cm long and 2 cm wide [3].

Plant taxonomy has been shown in Box 1.

Chemical composition

Flavonoids are the principal constituents of this [3]. The stems and leaves contain alkaloid, glycoside and sterol [4]. The root contains alkaloids, glycosides, steroids, tannins, saponins and flavonoids [5].

The whole plant contains carbohydrates, flavonoids,

glycosides, alkaloids, saponins, steroids and tannins [1,2]. [6] isolated four new compounds, namely - 7′-carboxylic-nheptacosanyl-glutarate, n-nonacosan-6-ol-1,13-dioic acid, 4,12-dimethyl-n.-tetradeca-6,8,10-triene-1-ol-4-oic acid, and 8,14-13,17-diseco-stigmast-5,22-diene-3-α-ol, along with 2-hydroxytricontane and β-sitosterol glycoside from the aerial parts of the U. lagopoides.

Biological activities

Antioxidant capacity: The aqueous and ethanolic root extracts (100, 500 and 1000 µg/mL) of U. lagopoides exhibited a concentration-dependent antioxidant capacity in 1, 1-diphenyl2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH?), hydroxyl radical (?OH) and nitric oxide (NO?) radical scavenging tests. Moreover, the extracts also exhibited a significant ferric reducing capacity [7,8], also reported a concentration-dependent DPPH? scavenging capacity of the ethanol extract (10-100 µg/mL) of the aerial parts of the U. lagopodies. Moreover, methanol and petroleum ether extracts of the whole plant are also evident to show DPPH? scavenging capacity in a concentration-dependent manner at 5-500 µg/mL (Hossain et al. 2015).

Anti-inflammatory/membrane stabilization activity: In a study, the alcohol and aqueous extracts of the aerial parts of U. lagopoides at 100 and 200 mg/kg (oral) were found to show an anti-inflammatory effect in rats, where the paw edema of the animals was significantly (p <0.01) reduced in comparison to the indomethacin (20 mg/kg) [9]. In another study, Islam et al (2012a) also reported that the ethanolic aerial parts extract (250 and 500 mg/kg) of U. lagopodies showed anti-inflammatory and membrane stabilization capacity in egg-albumin and human red blood cell (HRBC) tests, respectively.

Antimicrobial activity: The aqueous and ethanol extracts (100 and 200 mg/mL) of U. lagopoides were found to act against multi-drug resistant bacteria- Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimuerium, Bacillus subtilis and B. cereus. The extracts were also found to show sensitivity against the fungi: Aspergillus flavus, A. niger, A. fumigatus, Rhizopus and Candida albicans. However, the ethanol extract of the plant showed higher sensitivity against the bacteria and fungi [5]. In this study, the zone of inhibition was seen within 7 and 17 mm. The ethanol extract of aerial parts of U. lagopodies at 250 µg/disc is evident to act against B. subtilis, S. paratyphi, S. typhi, Shigella dysenteriae, S. sonnei, Vibrio cholerae, A. niger, C. albicans, Cryptococcus neoformans, Microsporum spp. and Trichophyton spp., where the zones of inhibition were seen within 10 to 25 mm [8]. The methanol and petroleum ether extracts at 375, 750 and 1500 µg/disc were found to act against S. aureus, E. coli, S. typhi, Klebsiella pneumonia within the zone of inhibition range 7 and 12.25 mm [2].

Anti-diarrheal/anti-motility activity: In castor oil-induced diarrheal mice, the ethanol extract of the aerial parts of U. lagopodies showed a significant (p <0.05) anti-diarrheal effect at 250 and 500 mg/kg (p.o) [1]. The same extract also showed an anti-motility effect in charcoal meal-defecation mice at the same doses [1].

Cytotoxicity: In a study, the aerial parts ethanol extract of U. lagopodies showed a strong cytotoxic activity in Artemia salina, where the median lethal concentration (LC50) was calculated as 5.76 μg/mL [8].

Neuropharmacological activity: The alcohol and aqueous extracts of the aerial parts of U. lagopoides at 100 and 200 mg/ kg (oral) were found to show a significant (p <0.01) analgesic activity in rats in comparison to the standard drug, acetylsalicylic acid (100 mg/kg) in acetic acid-induced writhing test [9]. Moreover, the ethanol extract (250 and 500 mg/kg, p.o.) of the aerial parts of U. lagopodies also showed a significant analgesic activity in acetic acid-induced writhing test in mice [8]. The methanol and petroleum ether extracts of whole plant are also evident to show an analgesic effect in mice at 250 and 500 mg/ kg (p.o.) [9]. Furthermore, the ethanol extract of the aerial parts of U. lagopodies at 250 and 500 mg/kg (p.o.) showed a significant (p <0.05) anti-depressant effect in pentobarbital-induced Swiss mice [8].

Abortifacient activity: Hot alcoholic extracts of the stems and leaves of the plant at 250 mg showed a potent uterine stimulant effect in rabbit, guinea pig and pregnant and non pregnant rats and human [4]

Toxicological report: In a study, the alcohol and aqueous extracts up to 1 g/kg (intra-peritoneal) did not exhibit any toxicity in mice [9].

The plant U. lagopodies may be a good source of antioxidant, antimicrobial and analgesic phytochemicals. More researches are necessary for this plant.

1. Islam MT, Ibrahim M, Ahsan MQ, Chowdhury MMU, Hossain MA, Rashid MA. Phytochemical and Pharmacological Investigations of Uraria lagopodies DC. and Urena lobata L. Dhaka Univ J Pharmaceut Sci. 2012a; 11: 65-69.

2. Hossain MM, Md Alam MN, Uddin N, Uddin MB, Chowdhury AYSkFA. In vitro antioxidant, antimicrobial and in vivo peripheral analgesic activities of methanol and petroleum ether extracts of whole plant of Uraria lagopoides DC. British J. Pharmaceut Res. 2015; 8: 1-14.

3. Medicinal Plants of Bangladesh. 2017.

4. Sharma M, Mishra SS. A pharmacological study of some abortifacient plants. Indian J. Physiol. Pharmacol. 1969; 13: 139-141.

5. Sivakumar K, Parthiban K, Mohandass S. In vitro antimicrobial activity of Uraria lagopoides and its phytochemical analysis. J. Pharm. Res. 2011; 4: 88.

6. Hamid H, Abdullah T, Ali M, Alam S. New phytoconstituents from the aerial parts of Uraria lagopoides. Pharm Biol. 2008; 45:140-144.

7. Sivakumar K, Mohandass S, Devika V. In vitro antioxidant and free radical scavenging activity of root extracts of Uraria lagopoides. Int J Phar Bio Sci. 2012; 3: 1-8.

8. Islam MT, Ibrahim M, Huq AKMM, Chowdhury MMU, Hossain MA, Rashid MA. Uraria lagopodies DC. Shows antimicrobial, antioxidant, antidiarrhoeal, antidepressant and cytotoxic activities. Bangladesh Pharmaceut J. 2012b; 15:95-97.

9. Hamid H, Abdullah T, Ali A, Alam S, Ansari SH. 2004. Anti-inflammatory and analgesic activity of Uraria lagopoides. Pharm. Biol 2004; 42:114- 116