Golden Rain Tree
Botanical Name : Cassia fistula
Description
The golden shower tree is a medium-sized tree, growing to 10–20 m (33–66 ft) tall with fast growth. The leaves are deciduous, 15–60 cm (5.9–23.6 in) long, and pinnate with three to eight pairs of leaflets, each leaflet 7–21 cm (2.8–8.3 in) long and 4–9 cm (1.6–3.5 in) broad. The flowers are produced in pendulous racemes 20–40 cm (7.9–15.7 in) long, each flower 4–7 cm (1.6–2.8 in) diameter with five yellow petals of equal size and shape. The fruit is a legume, 30–60 cm (12–24 in) long and 1.5–2.5 centimetres (0.59–0.98 in) broad, with a pungent odor and containing several seeds. The tree has strong and very durable wood, and has been used to construct "Ahala Kanuwa", a place at Adams Peak, Sri Lanka, which is made of Cassia fistula (ahala, ehela, or aehaela, ඇහැල in Sinhala ) heartwood.
Cultivation
Cassia fistula is widely grown as an ornamental plant in tropical and subtropical areas. It blooms in late spring. Flowering is profuse, with trees being covered with yellow flowers, many times with almost no leaf being seen. It will grow well in dry climates. Growth for this tree is best in full sun on well-drained soil; it is relatively drought-tolerant and slightly salt-tolerant. It will tolerate light brief frost, but can get damaged if the cold persists. It can be subject to mildew or leaf spot, especially during the second half of the growing season. The tree will bloom better where there is pronounced difference between summer and winter temperatures.
Vernacular names
• Arabic: khiār shambar (خيار شمبر)
• Assamese: xonaru (সোণাৰু)
• Bengali: sonalu (সোনালূু), sonal (সোনাল), bandar lathi (বাঁদরলাঠি বা বান্দর লাঠি), amaltas
• Burmese: ngu wah (ငုရွှေဝါပင်)
• Chinese: ā bó lè (阿勃勒: Taiwan), là cháng shù (sausage tree, 腊肠树)
• Gujarati: garmalo (ગરમાળો)
• Hindi: amaltās (अमलतास), bendra lathi (or bandarlauri), dhanbaher (or dhanbohar), girimaloah
• Indonesian: tengguli
• Japanese: nanban saikachi (ナンバン サイカチ, Kanji: 南蛮皀莢)
• Javanese: trengguli (ꦠꦽꦁꦒꦸꦭꦶ)
• Khmer: reachapreuk (រាជព្រឹក្ស - rajavriksha / លឿងរាជ្យ / រាជ)
• Korean: hwang-geum kasia (황금 카시아)
• Kannada: kakke (ಕಕ್ಕೆ ಮರ)
• Lao: khoun (ຄູນ)
• Marathi: bahava (बहावा)
• Malayalam: kanikkonna (or kani konna കണിക്കൊന്ന), Vishu konna (വിഷുക്കൊന്ന) also Ophirpponnu (ഓഫീർപ്പൊന്ന്) or Karnikaram (കർണ്ണികാരം) and Konnappoo (കൊന്നപ്പൂ).
• Malay: kayu raja (كايو راج)
• Meitei (Manipuri): chahui
• Nepali: rajbriksya (राजवृक्ष), amaltash
• Odia: sunari (ସୁନାରି)
• Punjabi: amalatāsa (ਅਮਲਤਾਸ)
• Sanskrit: aragvadha (अरग्वदवृक्षः), chaturangula, kritamala, suvarnaka
• Sinhalese: aehaela, ඇහැල (or ahalla), ehela
• Tamil: konrai (கொன்றை)
• Telugu: raela (రేల)
• Thai: rachapruek (ราชพฤกษ์), koon (คูน), dok koon (ดอกคูน)
• Urdu: amaltās (املتاس)
• Vietnamese: muồng hoàng yến
Descriptions in Ayurveda
In Ayurveda, this plant has been described to be useful against skin diseases, liver troubles, tuberculous glands and its use in the treatment of rheumatism, hematemesis, pruritus, leucoderma, and diabetes
Sanskrit Synonyms:
Aragwadha –Helps to destroy diseases
Rajavruksha – big, good looking, king size tree
Shampaka – auspicious
Chaturangula – having four finger length fruits
Arevata – detoxifying
Suvarnaka – having good colour, gives good color to the body.
Deerghaphala – long fruits
Svarnabhushana – golden yellow coloured flowers
Rasadi guna
Guna (qualities) – Mrudu (soft), Guru (heavy to digest), Snigdha (unctuous, oily)
Rasa (taste) –tikta, Madhura (sweet)
Vipaka (taste conversion after digestion) – Madhura (sweet)
Veerya (potency) – Sheeta (cold)
Effect on Tridosha – balances Kapha and Pitta.
Prabhava - Sramsana
Disease conditions
Of all the herbs that are useful in bringing about mild purgation, Aragvadha is the best.
It is useful in
Jvara – fever
Hrudroga- Cardiac disorder
Pittasra – bleeding disorders
Vata udavarta – bloating
Shula – abdominal colic pain
Aragwadha is continuously indicated throughout the course of treatment for fever. It helps to relieve Ama and detoxifies the digestive tract.
Because of its mild purgation action, it can be used in elderly people and sensitive people.
Cassia fistula Side effects:
In a large dose, it may cause heavy purgation.
It is not indicated in diarrhea.
Part used: fruit rind, root bark, flower, leaves.
Ayurvedic medicines with Aragvadha ingredient –
Manasamitra vatakam – useful in neuro-psychiatric conditions
Maha Manjistadi kashayam – Useful in a wide variety of skin diseases
Kushta rakshasa taila – An herbal oil, used externally for the treatment of skin diseases.
Maharasnadi Kashayam – Useful in Vata disorders.
Aragwadhadi Kashayam – An herbal decoction with Aragvadha as main ingredient, used in vomiting, skin diseases, pruritis and non healing wounds
Cassia fistula for ascites:
In Ascites with Pitta Dosha imbalance, milk boiled with Cassia fistula fruit pulp is administered for Virechana (Purgation) treatment. (Charaka Samhita Chikitsa Sthana 13)
Modern pharmacology studies
1.Antiulcer activity of ethanol leaf extract of Cassia fistula
The ethanol leaf extract (ELE) of Cassia fistula Linn. (Caesalpinaceae) was evaluated for antiulcer activity against pylorus ligation-induced gastric ulcer. This protective ability of ELE against pylorus ligation-induced gastric ulcer could be attributed to its free radical scavenging and antioxidant properties. Higher doses of ELE (750 mg/kg b.w.) produced maximum antiulcer activity comparable to ranitidine treatment. In essence, the antiulcer activity of ELE could be attributed to (i) a decrease in gastric acid secretion, (ii) protection of the mucosal barrier and restoration of mucosal secretions, (iii) inhibition of free radical generation or prevention of lipid peroxidation, and (iv) free radical scavenging or antioxidant properties.
2. Chief ingredients/isolated compound of Cassia fistula
Cassia fistula shows a pivotal role in diseases prevention due their valuable ingredients. Some of the constituents show role as antimicrobial and antioxidant, and other types has therapeutic implications in cancer prevention via modulation of genetic pathways. Part of plants such as stem, leaf, and flower contains different types of constituents, and such types of constituents have proven therapeutics role in health care . Previous finding has reported that stem bark of C. fistula is a chief source of lupeol, ß-sitosterol, and hexacosanol.
Fruits and flower of C. fistula are a source of important ingredients, and those ingredients show role in health management. A compound such as 1,8-dihydroxy-3-anthraquinone derivative isolated from the fruit pulp and compound isolated from the flowers are kaempferol, leucopelargonidin tetramer, rhein, fistulin, and triterpenes.
An important study reported that seeds of C. fistula are rich in glycerides with linoleic, oleic, stearic, and palmitic acids as chief fatty acids and also contains traces of caprylic and myristic acids.
The compounds such as Heptacosanyl-5-hydroxypentadec-2-enoate and octacosan-5, 8-diol isolated from the leaves of C. fistulaand valuable constituents present in pulp such as high concentration of soluble sugar, sucrose, fructose and glucose, and good source of macromineral elements, calcium and potassium. Other compound s isolated from the seeds of C. fistula are 5-(2-hydroxyphenoxymethyl)furfural,(2'S)-7-hydroxy-5-hydroxymethyl-2-(2'-hydroxypropyl)chromone, benzyl 2-hydroxy-3,6-dimethoxybenzoate, and benzyl 2 β-O-d-glucopyranosyl-3,6-dimethoxybenzoate, together with other compounds, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, (2'S)-7-hydroxy-2-(2'-hydroxypropyl)-5-methylchromone, and two oxyanthraquinones, chrysophanol, and chrysophanein.
A numerous valuable constituents present in different parts of the plants and such types of ingredients shows a role in health management. Anthraquinones such as rhein, chrysophanol, and physcion were isolated from the leaves of the C. fistula and galactomannan constitutes of different type of sugar moieties are also reported from the seeds
3. Antioxidant activity
Antioxidants are the compounds that neutralize the attack of free radicals and, therefore, reduce the risk of disorders. Antioxidant activity of natural source has proven therapeutics role in the prevention of various pathogenesis due to the rich source of antioxidant. Medicinal plants contain several valuable ingredients such as tocopherol, flavonoids, and polyphenols, some essential amino acids and all these constituents show a role in health care. Phenols especially bioflavonoids are a good source of antioxidant and shows valuable role as free radical scavengers. The importance of C. fistula in diseases control has ancient background due to high sources of antioxidants. A recent study was performed to evaluate the antioxidant potential and protective effect of C. fistula Linn. on hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidative damage in erythrocytes and results confirmed that C. fistula ethanolic extract showed high antioxidant activity and as more than 90% protection of erythrocytes whereas C. fistula aqueous extract showed 75% antioxidant and protective activity.
Another study was performed to analyze the antioxidant activity based on C. fistula bark, stem, leaf, and root, and results showed that bark extracts from different age classes showed high antioxidant activity.
Finding based on albino rats was performed to check the antioxidant activities of the aqueous and methanolic extracts of the C. fistula Linn. bark and results confirmed that both extracts exhibited significant antioxidant activity in DPPH, Nitric oxide and Hydroxyl radical induced in vitro assay methods.[9] Earlier finding showed that ethyl acetate extract showed higher antioxidant activity and order of antioxidant was noted as ethyl acetate extract > methanol extract > n-hexane extract, with antioxidant activity consecutively at 5 h with 65.98%, 58.19%, and 32.66%.
Another important study was performed to investigate the antioxidant activities of C. fistula with 90% ethanol extracts of leaves, and 90% methanol extracts of stem bark, pulp and flowers and its results confirmed that stem bark showed high antioxidant activity in terms of reducing power, inhibition of peroxidation, O2−, and DPPH radical scavenging ability.
Previous finding examines the antioxidant activity of such as n-hexane fraction (NHF), ethyl acetate fraction (EAF), and aqueous fractions (AQF) of C. fistula L. pods and results revealed that antioxidant potency was high in ethyl acetate, and sequence was note as decreasing order of EAF, NHF, and AQF. Antioxidant effect of aqueous extract of C. fistula (Linn.) flowers was evaluated and results revealed that decreased activities of antioxidant enzymes including superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase, and glutathione were reverse back to near to normal level.
Antioxidant activity of the extracts of fruit pulp was investigated and finding of the study concluded that hydroalcoholic extract of fruit pulp shows antioxidant activity via inhibiting DPPH and hydroxyl radical, total phenol content, and reducing power activities.
4. Anti-inflammatory activity
Inflammation is a normal physiological process in response to tissue injury, infection, and various other factors also involve in this process and cause various pathological alterations. Safe and natural remedies are needed to control the inflammatory process via modulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines and other factors involve in the chronic inflammation. Flavonoids is an ingredient present in the various medicinal plants including C. fistula shows role as anti-inflammatory process due to the rich source of antioxidant. It has been recognized that flavonoids show a role in the inhibition of several enzymes that are activated in the inflammatory process.
An important finding has shown that C. fistula Linn. bark extracts were found to possess significant anti-inflammatory effect in both acute and chronic models. The water extract of dried fruits of Solanum xanthocarpum Schrad and Wendl and dried pulp of C. fistula Linn was prepared and anti-inflammatory activity was measured and results revealed that among the different dose combinations of both extracts, the 1:1 combination at the 500 mg/kg dose showed maximum percentage inhibition of 75%, which was comparable with the positive control, diclofenac sodium, which showed 81% inhibition. Another study was performed to test the anti-inflammatory effects of C. fistula, as compared with phenylbutazone, using carrageenin, histamine, and dextran induced paw edema in rats and anti-inflammatory activity against all phlogistic agents was noticed. Study was made to evaluate the anti-inflammatory effect of C. fistula with different dose of ethanolic extract of leaf (ELE) and results showed that ELE significantly inhibited both the carrageenan-induced hind paw edema and cotton-pellet granuloma in a dose-dependent manner.
Another study was carried out to evaluate the anti-inflammatory activity of aqueous and alcoholic extracts of C. fistula bark in sub-acute models of inflammation results confirmed that extracts showed significant anti-inflammatory effect in both air pouch granuloma and cotton pellet granuloma models.
5. Anti-tumor activity
Medicinal plants have an ancient history in cancer treatment via traditional medicine such Unani, Ayurveda and Chinese. Various plants and their constituents such as dates, olive, black seed have shown a role in cancer prevention via modulation of biological activities. There are many effective cancer chemotherapeutic drugs that have been derived from the natural source. An important study was performed to check the effects of methanolic extract of C. fistula seed on the growth of Ehrlich ascites carcinoma and on the life span of tumor bearing mice and results revealed that extract increase life span, and a decrease in the tumor volume and viable tumor cell count. A study was performed on the human colon adenocarcinoma cell line such as COLO 320 D to evaluate the anticancer activity of rhein and results revealed that rhein showed 40.59%, 58.26%, 65.40%, 77.92%, and 80.25% cytotoxicity at 200 μg/mL concentration for 6, 12, 24, 48, and 72 h incubation time. A study was carried out to evaluate the anticancer activity of different types of fruit extracts against cell lines such as human cervical cancer (SiHa) and breast cancer (MCF-7) and results revealed that seeds and pulp treated both cell lines showed up-regulation of p53 and Bax genes, down-regulation of Bcl-2 gene and increased caspase-3, 7 and 10 and-9 enzymes activities. Furthermore, rhein also showed inhibition of growth of cancer cell lines including human cervical cancer (SiHa), breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) in a dose-dependent manner.
6. Anti-diabetic activity
Diabetic mellitus is a metabolic disease and also a major health problem worldwide. Drugs based on allopath used to treat the diabetes and its complications but these drugs show adverse complications. Most of plants have various constituents such as glycosides, alkaloids, terpenoids, flavonoids, carotenoids that are commonly implicated as anti-diabetic activity. and has a role in diabetes control since ancient time. The exact mechanism of action of medicinal plants in the management of diabetes is not understood completely, but it is considered that medicinal plants show role in the increase of the insulin-stimulated glucose uptake. A study reported that hexane extracts of C. fistula bark at a dose 0.15 × 0.30 × 0.45 g/kg body weight for 30 days suppressed the elevated glucose levels in diabetic rats. Methanolic extract of bark and leaves at 500 mg/kg dose showed significant anti-hyperglycemic and anti-lipidemic activity than 250 mg/kg in the STZ-nicotinamide-induced DM rats. and other finding result conclude that the extract and fraction evaluated for anti-diabetic activity revealed appreciable results in decreasing the serum glucose level and other complications associated with diabetes.
Other study based on the preparation of aqueous extract and synthesis of gold nanoparticles was performed to evaluate the hypoglycemic effects, and results confirm that C. fistula gold nanoparticles have promising antidiabetic properties. Stem barks of Tamarindus indica and C. fistula were evaluated for anti-hyperglycemic effect in alloxan-induced diabetic rats and results revealed that a significant decrease in blood glucose level in diabetic rats treated.[49] Oral administration of catechin (20 mg/kg b.wt) for 60 days produces a better glucose tolerance pattern in Streptozotocin-induced diabetic male albino Wistar rats.
7. Anti-bacterial activity
Diseases related to microbes infections are one of the major causes in the morbidity and mortality worldwide especially in the developing world. Nowadays, treatment based on antibiotics is effective in diseases control but also causes drug-resistant. A range of plants and its constituents have proven pivotal role in the control of infectious diseases through the breakdown of bacterial cell wall. However, C. fistula shows a pivotal role in the management of infectious diseases especially due to their inhibitory effect on various types of the pathogen.
The antibacterial and antifungal activities of hydroalcohol extracts of leaves of C. fistula were tested against Gram-positive, Gram-negative, fungal strains, and results showed that significant inhibition of the bacterial growth was shown against the tested organisms. An important study was made to evaluate the antibacterial and antifungal activities of extracts of C. fistula against Gram-positive, Gram-negative human pathogenic bacteria and fungi and crude extracts showed moderate to strong activity against most of the bacteria tested. Other finding was performed to evaluate the methanolic and ethanolic extracts of C. fistula against Gram-positive and Gram-negative species and both extracts efficiently inhibited three Gram-positive species including Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis and Bacillus cereus and two Gram-negative bacteria including Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumonia. A different types of extract such as hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, methanol, and water from the flower were evaluated against bacteria and results showed that all extracts exhibited antibacterial activity against Gram-positive organisms and in Gram-negative bacteria, only Pseudomonas aeruginosa was susceptible to the extracts.
Another finding reported that plant protease inhibitors like fistulin was found to be very active against S. aureus, E. coli, B. subtilis, and K. Pneumonia. and methanol extract of C. fistula seeds was effective on the tested microorganism and the minimum inhibitory concentration values were found in the range of 1.563–50.00 mg/ml.
Results of the study confirmed that antibacterial activity of compound 1 isolated from C. fistula was fairly good against Gram-negative bacteria and Gram-positive bacteria and antifungal activity of compound 1 was found to be greater against Aspergillus niger and Fusarium oxysorum.
An vital study has revealed that isoflavone biochanin A compound showed 50% effective concentration (EC (50)) value of 18.96 μg/mL against promastigotes of Leishmania (L.) chagasi and also showed anti-Trypanosoma-cruzi activity, resulting in an EC(50) value of 18.32 μg/mL and a 2.4-fold more effectiveness than benznidazole.
8. Hepatoprotective effect
Various chemicals such as high dose of paracetamol/anti-analgesic/anti-pyretic, excess alcohol consumption, infections, and toxic materials cause alterations in liver cells mainly by lipid peroxidation. In this vista, natural products have proven pivotal role in the management of liver via detoxification of toxic materials or excretion of toxic materials through urine. A study based on aqueous extract of C. fistula was performed and results exhibited dose-dependent reduction in total bilirubin, alkaline phosphatase, serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT), serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase (SGPT), aspartate transaminase, alanine aminotransferase and increase in total protein levels and extract-treated groups show mild hepatatocytic damage compared to the CCl4 treated group. Other finding reported that pretreatment of ethanolic leaf extract of C. fistula (500 mg/kg body weight/day for 7 days) followed by CCl4 treatment totally reversed back lipid peroxidation and the activities of catalase and glutathione reductase in the liver tissue towards normal. Hepatoprotective activity of extract n-heptane of C. fistula leaves was evaluated and results confirmed that extract of C. fistula at a dose of 400 mg/kg showed significant hepatoprotective activity which was comparable to that of a standard hepatoprotective agent.
A key study was performed to evaluate the hepatoprotective activity of the n-heptane extract paracetamol-induced hepatotoxicity and results revealed that extract at a dose of 400 mg/kg body wt. showed significant protective effect via lowering the serum levels of transaminases (SGOT and SGPT), bilirubin and alkaline phosphatase. Treatment with aqueous extract of leaves and bark of C. fistula significantly reduced CCl4-induced elevation in plasma enzyme and bilirubin concentration in rats. Other finding evaluated the hepatoprotective effect via methanolic extract of C. fistula and results demonstrated that treatment with methanolic extract (200 mg/kg and 400 mg/kg) reversed back the altered level of biochemical markers to the near normal levels in the dose-dependent mannerand a study also reported hepatoprotective effect of C. fistula.
9. Anti-pyretic effect
Cassia fistula and its constituents show role as anti-pyretic and earlier finding supported the anti-pyretic effect of C. fistula based on the animal model. An important study was performed on experimental rats to examine the anti-pyretic activities of ethanolic extract of C. fistula and results showed that extract at 250 and 500 mg/kg b.wt reduced TAB vaccine-induced pyrexia after 60 min, whereas at 750 mg/kg b.wt reduced the vaccine induced elevated body temperature post 30 min of its administration.Other study was aimed to evaluate the antipyretic activity of pod of C. fistula Linn and results confirmed that methanolic extract showed antipyretic activity, which was significantly higher than control rats.
10. Anti-infertility effect
Medicinal plant and their constituent have been reported their role in reproduction and control of hormone involve in reproduction. An important study based on animal model has shown that oral administration of extract seeds of C. fistula such as aqueous extract to mated female rats from day 1–5 of pregnancy at the doses of 100 and 200 mg/kg body weight resulted in 57.14% and 71.43% prevention of pregnancy, respectively, and furthermore, 100% pregnancy inhibition was noted at 500 mg/kg bw.
11. Immunomodulatory effect
A study has investigated the immunomodulatory effect of C. fistula in rats and study stated that C. fistula shows a significant stimulation of the cell-mediated immunity and no effects on the humoral immunity.
12. Larvicidal and ovicidal activity
Mosquitoes are the main culprit in the vector-borne diseases such malaria, filariasis and encephalitis and yellow fever, and other viral diseases. The formulation such as mosquito coil and insecticides causes adverse effect on human health and shows resistance in mosquitoes. Several plants or their constituents show role as insecticides and also kill or inhibit the growth of mosquitoes and also they are safe and inexpensive. Earlier finding reported the activity of different plant extracts/oil against mosquito larvae and Pelargonium citrosa, Cymbopogan citrates and Mentha piperita] showed larvicidal and inhibitory activity on growth against Anopheles stephensi.
A study was performed to test the methanolic leaf extract of C. fistula for larvicidal and ovicidal activity against Culex quinquefasciatus and Anopheles stephens and finding demonstrated that extract such as leaf is promising for larvicidal and ovicidal agent against C. quinquefasciatus and A. stephensi.[74] Other study assessed the role of larvicidal efficacy of different solvent flower extract against Culex tritaeniorhynchus Aedes albopictus and Anopheles subpictus and from the results it was concluded that crude extract of flower was an excellent potential for controlling C. tritaeniorhynchus, A. albopictus and A. subpictus mosquito larvae.
The activity of methanol extract of leaves was evaluated against Anopheles mosquito and results confirmed that leaf extracts showed promising mosquitocidal efficacy against A. stephensi.
13. Wound healing effect
Numerous medicinal plants have confirmed their role as wound healing and also show a role in wound treatment. An important study results has revealed that C. fistula treated rats showed better wound closure, improved tissue regeneration at the wound site, and supporting histopathological parameters pertaining to wound healing. Another study was performed to examine the wound healing effect of methanol extract in the form of an ointment in two types of wound models such as excision and inclusion wound model rats and results confirmed that ointment of two different concentrations responded significantly in both models of wounds tested.
14. Toxicity and safe dose
Toxicity and safe dose of any plants and its ingredients are very crucial in the use of health management. Some plants show an adverse effect at certain dose but also shows therapeutic role at other dose. Therefore, dose and toxicity should be checked before the use of any plant or products from the plants to avoid the unwanted adverse effect. Numerous studies have confirmed a safe dose of various plants based on animal model testing. The results of an important study has shown that C. fistula infusion when compared to senokot tablet showed that the infusion of C. fistula pods possessed very low levels of toxicity, with LD50 of 6600 mg/kg and furthermore, did not show any pathological effects on the organs examined microscopically and acute toxicity studies with the extracts of T. indica and C. fistula showed no signs of toxicity up to a dose level of 2000 mg/p.o. Another study reported that acute toxicity study with the extracts showed no sign of toxicity up to a dose level of 2000 mg/po.
15. pediatric functional constipation
Pediatric functional constipation (FC) is a common gastrointestinal disorder that can impair the child's and his parent's quality of life. It ranged from 0.7% to 29.6 % (median 8.9%) internationally . In up to 95% of children with complaint of constipation, there is no structural, endocrinal and metabolic cause; so it is called idiopathic or functional constipation. Despite treatment, only 50 to 70% of children with FC demonstrate long-term improvement . Although there is not any unique definition, Rome III has been used as diagnostic criteria of FC in children since 2006 . Oral laxatives and regular toilet training are the principles of successful treatment. The goals of treatment include: establishing a good pattern of defecation (soft stool and painless defecation), elimination of fecal incontinence and preventing the relapse . It has been proposed that changing in life style (including high-fiber diet can improve the constipation . Recent publication of randomized trials permits a more evidence-based approach; with polyethylene glycol (PEG) based treatments having been proposed to be effective and well-tolerated as first-line treatment . PEG is a high molecular chemical compound that is not metabolized by colonic bacteria and act as osmotic laxative. PEG 4000 without electrolytes is solvable and because of tastelessness, easily tolerated by children, so it is frequently used medications today . In spite of the widespread use of laxatives, lack of high quality studies in this field , means that the management of childhood constipation, generally has tended to rely on empirical treatment choices. Although drug discovery has many various methods, it has very complicated and expensive process . The use of ethno-medical information and traditional medicines can facilitate this process.
Potent phenolic antioxidants such as flavonoids, flavan-3-ol derivatives and anthraquinones are the most important phytochemical constituents of Cassia fistula . Anthraquinone is probably responsible for its laxative effect and so it can be categorized as stimulant laxative
16. Hypolipidemic and antioxidant effects of ethanol extract of Cassia fistula fruit in hyperlipidemic mice
The plant Cassia fistula L. (Caesalpiniaceae) fruit was widely used by traditional practitioners to treat cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in India. Hyperlipidemia is a lipid metabolism disorder and the major risk factor for the development of CVDs. Although most of the current hypolipidemic drugs are expensive and have potential side effects, the research focusing on natural alternative medicines is relevant
Treatment with CFE at different doses has significantly restored the levels of serum lipid, MDA and enzymes activities in the liver and heart of hyperlipidemia mice. Oil Red O staining of visceral adipose tissue has shown marked reduction of lipid accumulation in adipocytes; whereas, administration of CFE at 500 mg/kg showed remarkable (p < 0.001) hypolipidemic and antioxidant effects in HFD fed mice.
17. Anti-aging and tyrosinase inhibition effects of Cassia fistula flower butanolic extract.
The butanolic extraction of C. fistula flowers was completed and the active compounds were classified. The cytotoxicity of fibroblasts was evaluated by SRB assay for the purposes of selecting non-toxic doses for further experiments. The collagen and hyaluronic acid (HA) synthesis was then measured using the collagen kit and ELISA, respectively. Moreover, the enzyme activity, including collagenase, matrixmelloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and tyrosinase, were also evaluated.
The C. fistula flower extract displayed a preventive effect when used for anti-aging purposes in human skin fibroblasts and may be an appropriate choice for cosmetic products that aim to provide whitening effects, and which are designated as anti-aging facial skin care products.
18. Antibacterial activities and phytochemical analysis of Cassia fistula (Linn.) leaf
The ethanol extract was subjected to TLC bioautography and time-kill study against Staphylococcus epidermidis. All the findings exhibit that the leaf extracts have broad-spectrum activity and suggest its possible use in treatment of infectious diseases.
Reports of the preliminary screening of this plant collected from Similipal Biosphere Reserve (SBR) recorded of its antimicrobial activity against certain bacterial strains. The plant has diverse ethnomedicinal uses by the tribals of SBR. The bark paste is applied externally on the bite area for 2 to 3 times in a day at regular interval for 3 days. Half teaspoon juice extract is taken orally thrice daily to cure jaundice. The leaf paste along with neem is applied externally over all types of skin infections. Several reports are available on antimicrobial activities of C. fistula from bark, seed, flower, and fruits, but that on leaves are scanty.
The amounts of crude material extracted per gram of powdered C. fistula leaf were 15.2, 24.5, 43.8, 68.2, and 158.6 mg, respectively, with chloroform, petroleum ether, methanol, distilled water, and ethanol solvents. Evaluation of phytochemicals such as alkaloids, flavonoids, carbohydrates, glycosides, protein and amino acids, saponins, and triterpenoids revealed the presence of most of the constituent in polar extracts such as ethanol, methanol, and aqueous extracts compared with nonpolar extracts (petroleum ether and chloroform). However, flavonoids, proteins and amino acids, tannins, and phenols were found to be universally occurring in all the extracts the plant extracts and their zone of inhibition against the test bacterium. Chloroform extract did not show any zone of inhibition against Gram-negatives, whereas Gram-positive bacteria were completely inhibited by all test extracts. Several techniques have been reported for the testing of antimicrobial activity of natural products including plant extracts at different time and stipulation. However, ACM is always employed for preliminary testing of antimicrobial activities of crude extracts, while advanced method like MIC is mostly used as secondary confirmation method. In ACM, all test bacteria showed zone of inhibition with petroleum ether, ethanol, methanol, and aqueous extracts. Among Gram-positives, S. epidermidis, B. licheniformis, and B. subtilis were absolutely inhibited by all extracts. Ethanol and methanol extracts of the leaf were most active inhibiting agent against both Gram-positive and -negative bacteria. On the other hand, petroleum ether extract had better antibacterial activity against most of the Gram-negative bacteria. Among Gram-negatives, the highest zone of inhibition was recorded for ethanol extract against E. coli O157:H7. From ACM, result was obtained that there was no significant difference among the test bacteria with respect to plant extracts, while there were marked differences between the activities of the plant extract and pure antibacterial drug (ciprofloxacin) . Such significant differences are normally present when crude (unpurified) plant extracts are compared with pure drugs that are already in clinical use.] Also, the ACM is not always dependable for accurate assessment and comparison. This is because of the high degree of interference inherent in this method that arises from drug diffusion problems.
Though reports are available on antimicrobial activities of seeds, pods, bark of C. fistula, no work has been conducted on potentiality of leaves of this plant. Our report is of the first for antibacterial activity on leaf extracts of C. fistula. S. epidermidis is a part of normal skin flora, and is often attached to the upper layer of the skin (epidermis) or mucosa, without causing any symptom. When the skin is injured (wounds, burns, intravenous drug addicts, etc), S. epidermidis may enter into deeper layers of the skin or even the blood and cause an infection. S. epidermidis is the most common causative agent of post-cataract surgery endophthalmitis. Since this bacterium is completely inhibited by leaf extracts, the plant can be useful for the treatment of S. epidermidis.
Reference
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