Plumbago Zeylanica is also known as Chitrakmool or Citrak
In Ayurvedic medicine, Plumbago Zeylanica has been mentioned as having pungent, astringent, diuretic, germicidal, and vesicant properties. Others mention chitrakmool to have benefit in terms of digestive, nervous and female reproductive system. Used in indigestion, gas, hemorrhoids, rheumatism, promotes sweating and small doses stimulate the central nervous system. See a list of ayurvedic herbs. See also information on chitrakmool.
Plumbago zeylanica is also a medicinal plant commonly used in Ethiopia for skin diseases.
Plumbago Zeylanica and prostate cancer
Human prostate cancer cell growth is inhibited by plumbagin, a constituent of
the widely used medicinal herb Plumbago Zeylanica.
Plumbagin, a medicinal plant-derived naphthoquinone, is
a novel inhibitor of the growth and invasion of hormone-refractory prostate
cancer.
Cancer Res. 2008 November. Aziz MH, Dreckschmidt NE, Verma AK. Aziz MH,
Dreckschmidt NE, Verma AK. Department of Human Oncology, School of Medicine and
Public Health, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53792, USA.
We present here that plumbagin, a quinoid constituent isolated from the root of
the medicinal plant Plumbago zeylanica L., may be a potential novel agent in the
control of hormone-refractory prostate cancer. Specific observations are the
findings that plumbagin inhibited prostate cancer cell invasion and selectively
induced apoptosis in prostate cancer cells but not in immortalized
nontumorigenic prostate epithelial RWPE-1 cells.
Plumbagin inhibits multiple
molecular targets including PKCepsilon, a predictive biomarker of prostate
cancer aggressiveness. Plumbagin may be a novel agent for therapy of
hormone-refractory prostate cancer.
Substances in Plumbago Zeylanica
Aerial parts of Plumbago Zeylanica have plumbagin, isoshinanolone, plumbagic acid, beta-sitosterol,
4-hydroxybenzaldehyde, trans-cinnamic acid, vanillic acid, 2,
5-dimethyl-7-hydroxychromone, and indole-3-carboxaldehyde.
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