AUTHOR=Jain Nem Kumar , Tailang Mukul , Kumar Santosh , Chandrasekaran Balakumar , Alghazwani Yahia , Chandramoorthy Harish C. , Kumar Ashish , Deshpande Hemali , Wal Pranay , Balamurugan Manickam , Chidambaram Kumarappan 

TITLE=Appraising the therapeutical potentials of Alchornea laxiflora (Benth.) Pax & K. Hoffm., an underexplored medicinal herb: A systematic review

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Pharmacology

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pharmacology/articles/10.3389/fphar.2022.958453

DOI=10.3389/fphar.2022.958453

ISSN=1663-9812

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Ethnopharmacological relevance:</bold><italic>Alchornea laxiflora</italic> (Benth.) Pax &amp; K. Hoffm. (Euphorbiaceae) is an important traditional medicinal plant grown in tropical Africa. The stem, leaves, and root have been widely used in the folk medicine systems in Nigeria, Cameroon, South Africa, and Ghana to treat various ailments, including inflammatory, infectious, and central nervous system disorders, such as anxiety and epilepsy.</p><p><bold>Material and methods:</bold> The scientific name of the plant was validated using the “The Plant List,” “Kew Royal Botanic Gardens,” and Tropicos Nomenclatural databases. The literature search on <italic>A. laxiflora</italic> was performed using electronic search engines and databases such as Google scholar, ScienceDirect, PubMed, AJOL, Scopus, and Mendeley.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> To the best of our knowledge, no specific and detailed review has been reported on <italic>A. laxiflora</italic>. Consequently, this review provides an up-to-date systematic presentation on ethnobotany, phytoconstituents, pharmacological activities, and toxicity profiles of <italic>A. laxiflora.</italic> Phytochemical investigations disclosed the presence of important compounds, such as alkaloids, flavonoids, phenolics, terpenoids, and fatty acids. Furthermore, various pharmacological activities and traditional uses reported for this botanical drug were discussed comprehensively.</p><p><bold>Conclusion:</bold> This systemic review presents the current status and perspectives of <italic>A. laxiflora</italic> as a potential therapeutic modality that would assist future researchers in exploring this African botanical drug as a source of novel drug candidates for varied diseases.</p>