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A comprehensive review of ethnopharmacological uses, phytochemistry, biological activities, and future prospects of Nigella glandulifera

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Abstract

Nigella glandulifera Freyn et Sint (N. glandulifera) is frequently added to naan (a kind of crusty pancake and a favorite food of the Uyghur and Kazak people) as a spice. The water decoction of N. glandulifera was used as traditional Uighur medicine to treat tinnitus, amnesia, amenorrhea, hypogalactia, heat stranguria, urethral calculus, alopecia and hair-blacking, edema, and bronchial asthma. This review aimed to give an updated, comprehensive summary on the traditional uses, pharmacology, phytochemistry and toxicology of N. glandulifera to provide some reminders for future research. More than 78 chemical compounds were isolated from N. glandulifera, including essential oils, alkaloids, saponins, phenolic compounds, flavonol glycosides, steroids, and others. The extractions and constituents of N. glandulifera were preliminarily confirmed to exhibit menstrual cycle regulative, anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, viscera-protective, anti-neoplastic, anti-diabetic properties, and the therapeutic effects on respiratory diseases. Pharmacological investigations supported the traditional use of N. glandulifera to treat endocrine, respiratory, urogenital, and nervous system diseases with little toxicity. N. glandulifera is an excellent tonic to treat many public health problems, including endocrine, respiratory, urogenital, neuronal system disorders and cancer.

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Acknowledgements

The author is grateful to Mr YunQing Qiu from the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University for funding.

Funding

This study was supported by the Key Technologies R&D Program of 13th Five-year Plan of China (2018ZX09301025002), Natural Science Foundation of Zhejing Province, China (Nos. LY16H280002 and LY19H280011), Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine of Zhejiang Province, China (No. 2018ZQ033) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81903849).

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  1. Research Center for Clinical Pharmacy, State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Disease, First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310003, PR China

    Yunliang Zheng, Qiao Zhang & Xingjiang Hu

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  1. Yunliang Zheng
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  2. Qiao Zhang
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Correspondence to Xingjiang Hu.

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Zheng, Y., Zhang, Q. & Hu, X. A comprehensive review of ethnopharmacological uses, phytochemistry, biological activities, and future prospects of Nigella glandulifera. Med Chem Res 29, 1168–1186 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00044-020-02558-9

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