Asuro

 1. SOURCE: The drug asuro consists of the dried matured leaves, flowers, roots and bark of Justicia adhatoda

2. NOMENCLATURE:

Botanical name: Justicia adhatoda L

Synomys:  Adhatoda vasica Nees, Adhatoda zylanica

Common names: Vasa, Vasaka (Sanskrit), Asuro (Nepali), Aasuri (Gurung)

Family: Acanthaceae

3. IDENTIFICATION:

Botanical identification

Habitat and Distribution

It is a perennial shrub of about 2m in height abundantly found in the Himalayan plains upto the height of 2000m. In Nepal it is distributed throught the country upto the altitude of 1300m.

Botanical Description

Macroscopic identification

J. adhatoda L. is a perennial, evergreen, gregarious, bushy, shrub about 2m in height

Leaves:  opposite, simple, elliptical, entire, lanceolate, acuminate apex, about 10-20cm in size. Petiolate, exstipulate 10-20cm long and 3-10cm broad, light green in color 8-10 parts of lateral veins which are reticularly petioles 2-8 cm long exstipulate glabrescent.

Flowers: Dense spike, sessile, white with purple veins.

Flowering: February-March

Fruits: Capsule longitudinally channeled for seedes.

Stem: Erect and stout branched in upper part, cylindrical with leaf scars, about 2.5cm long and 0.5cm in diameter, brownish in color, bark unpeelable, fracture short.

Medicinally important parts: leaves, root, flowers, stem and bark.

Organoleptic properties:

            Color: Greenish

            Odour: Characteristic

            Taste: Strong bitter taste

Powdered drug

Drug powder is brown, fine with yellowish and blackish particles with somewhat disagreeable odour and bitter taste. It is soluble in water and imparts light brownish colouration in water.

Microscopic identification:

Chromosome number: 2n=28

T. S. of leaf: Transverse section of the leaf shows dorsiventral structure with two bilayers of palisade cells. Upper epidermis cells in surface view are somewhat uniform in size but extremely sinuous in outline while lower surface shows variation in their size and less wavy. Both the epidermis shows the presence of diacytic stomata (with two subsidiary cells lying at right angles to the axis of guard cells.) Hairs both glandular and non glandular on each surface of leaf elongated cytolitus articular and prismatic forms of ca- oxalate present in mesophyll below the epidermis in mid rib. There are 4-6 layers of collenchymatous cells. Vascular bundles 3-5 central are being the largest.

T. S. of stem: The transverse section of stem shows outer most cutinized epidermal layer followed by parenchymatous corky zone, endodermis and vascular zone. Central portion is occupied by parenchymatous pith. Vascular zone contains several vascular bundles with distinct cambium between xylem and phloem elemant.

Powder microscopy: Powdered drug shows fragment of epidermal cells, parenchymatous cells, conical two to three uniserate trichomes as well as stomata and fragment of xylem vessels.

4. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS:

Though the chemical constituents of the plants include essential oils, fats, resins, sugar, mucilage etc. the major chemical constituents of the plant are qunazoline alkaloids among them vasicine and vasicinone are the major constituents having pharmacological activities. Vasicine is found to be 45-95 % in the leaf extract other constituents include vasakin, deoxyvasicine, oxyvasicine and organic adhatodic acid etc.

5. COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION:

Cultivation: Propagated by seeds or cuttings. The plant is capable to tolerate variety of soils and can be grown in different climatic conditions.

Collection: collected when leaves are fully grown and flowers begin to expand.

Drying: drying is carried out by sunlight exposing the leaves to the sunglight for about 4-6 hours.

Storage: Dry and airtight container, don’t expose to light the active constituents may get decomposed due to action of light.

Common adulterants: other species of adhatioda like Adhatoda bbeddomei and Ailanthus excels Roxb. are common adulterants.

6. THERAPEUTICS:

Medicinal uses

•   The leaves, roots and flowers of J. adhatoda L. are extensively used in indigenous medicines as a remedy for cough, cold, bronchitis and asthma.
•  The leaves are applied locally as a poultice on rheumatic jounts, inflammation, swelling and neuralgias.
•  Juice of leaf and flowers obtained by squeezing is useful in vomiting, diarrhoes, and dysentery and leaf powder is used in malarial fever.
•  A spoonful of dried powdered plant is taken with warm water to cure tuberculosis.
•  Dried leaves are smoked as cigarette in case of asthma and bronchitis.
•  Strong leaf decoction is good for scabies and other skin complaints.
•  Hot water leaf decoction with honey is given to reduce fever.  Its local use gives relief in pyorrhea and in bleeding gums.

Ethnomedicinal notes

•   In west Nepal root is powdered with black pepper and is used by tharu community of Dang district to treat stomach pain.
•   In central Nepal twigs are boiled in water in the evening in the morning the lilquid is taken to relieve colds and fever by the tharus oif Chitwan. They use the decoction for the treatment of cough and bronchitis.
•   Fruit is consumed as pickle in case of body ache by darai tribe in Chitwan.
•   Decoction of leaf is used to treat asthma in Kathmandu valley.
•   Similarly leaf juice is used in malarial fever by Tamangs of Kavrepalanchok district.

Pharmacological actions:

•  The drug has definite expectorant action and relieves from acute bronchitis. The active alkaloids vasicine and its autooxidation product vasicinone have shown bronchodilator and antihistaminic effects. It relieves the irritable cough by its soothing action on the nerves and by mucolytic action.
•   Uterine stimulant activity (Intraamniotic injection of vasicine hydrochloride was effective in inducing mid-trimester abortions at dose of 60 mg.) and moderate hypotensive activity of the alkaloids were reported.
•   Thrombopoetic activity of vasicine has been observed. It is also prescribed commonly for bleeding due to idiopathic thrombocytopenia purpurea ( ITP) local bleeding doe to peptic ulcer, piles, menorrhagia etc.
•   The aqueous leaf extract of adhatoda vasica shows significant hepatoprotective  activity of on d-galactosamine- induced liver damage in rats .
•   Vasakin non nitrogenous principal is antidiabetic.
•   Alcoholic extract shows some antibacterial property.
•   Other actions of the drug include antispasmodic, antitussive and febrifuge, properties.

7. OTHER INTERACTION    

Toxicology: Leaves are said to be toxic to all forms of lower life. The alcoholic extract of leaves reported to be poisonous to flies and flea mosquitoes, centipedes and other insects. It prevent growth of lower aquatics and check development of parasitic vegetation.

Acute toxicity in mice and absorption pattern in dogs of vasicinone administrated by different routes confirmed the activity and safety of vasicinone.

Contraindications: The drug should be avoided in pregnancy as its constituent’s vasicinone has the absortifaciaent property.

Side effects: There are no reported side effects for the therapeutic dose in the treatment of asthma though higher dose may cause diarrhea vomiting and gastric irritation.