Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Review Article | OPEN ACCESS

Possible roles of Eucomis autumnalis in bone and cartilage regeneration: A review

Franca N Alaribe, Makwese J Maepa, Nolutho Mkhumbeni, Shirley CKM Motaung

Department of Biomedical Sciences, Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria 0001, South Africa;

For correspondence:- Shirley Motaung Email: motaungsckm@tut.ac.za Tel:+27123826265/6333

Accepted: 23 October 2017 Published: 30 April 2018

Citation: Alaribe FN, Maepa MJ, Mkhumbeni N, Motaung SC. Possible roles of Eucomis autumnalis in bone and cartilage regeneration: A review. Trop J Pharm Res 2018; 17(4):741-749 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v17i4.25

© 2018 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

In response to the recent alarming prevalence of cancer, osteoarthritis and other inflammatory disorders, the study of anti-inflammatory and anticancer crude medicinal plant extracts has gained considerable attention. Eucomis autumnalis is a native flora of South Africa with medicinal value. It has been found to have anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-tumor/cancer, anti-oxidative and anti-histaminic characteristics and produces bulb that have therapeutic value in South African traditional medicine. Despite the widely acclaimed therapeutic values of Eucomis autumnalis, its proper identification and proper knowledge, morphogenetic factors are yet to be efficiently evaluated. Similar to other plants with the same characteristics, E. autumnalis extract may stimulate bone formation and cartilage regeneration by virtue of its anti-inflammatory properties. This review provides data presented in the literature and tries to evaluate the three subspecies of E. autumnalis, highlighting their geographical location in South African provinces, their toxicity effects, as well as their phytochemistry and anti-inflammatory properties. Biologically active components, pharmacological importance and some environmental factors that can affect E. autumnalis are presented. The review also discussed the novel potential roles of E. autumnalis in regenerative medicine. Proper knowledge of the E. autumnalis plant and its possible role in bone and cartilage regeneration will help in addressing and clarifying its use in the production of drugs and for other therapeutic purposes, especially in the treatment of inflammatory diseases and cancer.

Keywords: Medicinal plants, inflammatory diseases, toxicity, phytochemicals, bone regeneration