Justicia pectoralis

Scientific name: Justicia pectoralis Jacq.

Botanical family: ACANTHACEAE

Vernacular names

(In territories with significant traditional TRAMIL use)

Haiti:

chapantyé

Costa Rica:

tilo

Cuba:

tilo

Martinique:

zèb chapantyé

Dominica:

zèb chapantyé

Other vernacular names

Dominica:

Carpenter's grass
Carpenter's grass o Z'herbe carpentier
Carpenter's grass o Zeb chepentier

French Guiana:

Crementin

Puerto Rico:

Curía

Costa Rica:

Flor de tilo

Guadeloupe:

herbe charpentier

Haiti:

Sepantye
Zeb chapantye

Cuba:

Tilo
Tilo

Martinique:

zèb chapantyé, herbe charpentier

Geographical distribution

Tropical America.

Botanical description

Erect or decumbent herb less than 1.5 m, highly ramified. Lanceolate to lanceolate-elliptic leaves, 3 to 10 cm, acuminate. Terminal inflorescences in lax panicles; subulate, puberulous glandular calyx segments; white, lilac or pink-coloured corolla, 8 to 10 mm Capsule of 1 cm in length, puberulous.

Voucher(s)

Fuentes,4758,ROIG

Longuefosse&Nossin,21,HAVPMC

Ocampo,5000,CR

Rouzier,220,SOE

Soberats,TR90-02,CIFMT

nervousness

aerial parts, infusion and decoction, orally²⁷

anxiety

aerial parts, infusion and decoction, orally²⁷

insomnia

aerial parts, infusion and decoction, orally²⁷

stomach pain

leaf, decoction, orally¹

blow

entire plant, crushed or entire, applied locally²

twist

entire plant, crushed or entire, applied locally²

blow

leaf, crushed, applied locally³

twist

leaf, crushed, applied locally³

nervousness

aerial parts, decoction, orally^4-5,27

For knocks and twists:

wash the entire fresh plant or the leaves, crush, and apply a sufficient amount to cover the affected area. Cover with a dressing or clean cloth and repeat 4 times a day.

For stomach pain, nerves, nervousness, anxiety or insomnia:

prepare a decoction or infusion with 5-10 grams of fresh leaves (or aerial parts) in 1 cup (250 litre) of water For decoction, boil for 5 minutes in a covered vessel. For the infusion, add the boiling water to the 5-10 grams of flowers and cover. Allow to cool, strain (filter) and drink 1 cup 2-4 times a day or as required as indicated by the symptoms.

Preparations must never be stored for more than 24 hours, even if refrigerated.

According to the information available:

Oral use for stomach pain, nerves, nervousness, anxiety and insomnia is classified as REC based on the significant traditional use documented in TRAMIL surveys and toxicity studies.

If deterioration is observed in the patient or if the stomach pain persists for more than 3 days, or if the nerves, nervousness, anxiety and insomnia persist for more than 7 days, seek medical attention.

Not to be used in conjunction with anticoagulants, or in patients with circulatory disorders. Do not ingest before driving or operating other machinery due to the possible sedative activity.

Topical use for knocks and twists is classified as REC based on the traditional experience in the significant use documented in the TRAMIL surveys and toxicity studies.

If deterioration is observed in the patient or the symptoms of the knock or twist persist for more than 7 days, seek medical attention.

All topical application must follow strict hygiene measures in order to prevent contamination or additional infection.

Not for use during pregnancy, breastfeeding or in children under 5 years.

TRAMIL Work²²

The freeze-dried aqueous extract (decoction with 2.889 kg of fresh aerial parts in 7.850 l of distilled water, 5 g/kg/day/5 days), was administered orally in Swiss mice (5 males and 5 females each group), one treatment group and another control. The observations of the parameters were made daily (Irwin multidimensional scheme), and 7 more days at the end of the administration. The extract did not cause death or signs of obvious toxicity.

TRAMIL Work²³

Crushed fresh aerial parts (0.6 g) were applied over 10% of the total surface area (12 cm²) of the skin, over 24 hours, in Wistar rat (5 males and 5 females per group), general acute toxicity model topically. The animals were observed for 14 days. No deaths or other signs of adverse effects occurred in any of the experimental groups. The necropsy showed no macroscopic damage to the kidney, liver or spine.

TRAMIL Work²⁴

The aqueous extract (30% decoction) from fresh aerial parts (patch of 0.6 ml/6 cm² for 4 hours on shaved skin), topically in 3 rabbits, Draize model, did not produce clinical signs of oedema or erythema at 1, 24, 48 and 72 hours and was classified as non- irritant.

The fluid extract 70% of the foliage in the in vivo micronucleus induction assay in mouse bone marrow showed no genotoxic effect or mutagenicity (up to 5 mg/plate) in the in vitro Salmonella/microsome (Ames) bacterial reversion test²⁵.

The ethanolic extract from dry aerial parts (2000 mg/kg single dose), intraperitoneally in female Sprague Dawley rats, did not produce mortality or toxicity symptoms, apart from drowsiness and sedation, during the 14 days of observation. Macroscopic anatomopathological studies showed no alteration of the studied organs. The LD50 of the extract is above 2000 mg/kg²⁶.

The hydroalcoholic extract (30%) of the dry foliage (10, 100 and 1000 mg/kg/day/90 days), orally in 14 Wistar rats, did not cause death or obvious signs of toxicity²⁷.

The ethanolic extract (23.49%) from dried leaves orally in Swiss albino mice (18-22 g) according to the OECD-1987 method showed a LD50 = 3531 mg/kg²⁸.

There is no information available documenting the safety of use in children, during pregnancy or breastfeeding.

TRAMIL Work⁷

The freeze-dried aqueous extract (decoction) from fresh leaves and stems contains 79.11 and 28.31 mg coumarin per 100 g of material, respectively.

TRAMIL Work⁸

Preliminary phytochemical selection (leaf)

The plant contains flavonoids: swertisin, swertiajaponin, coumarin and derivatives⁹; lignans: justicidin¹⁰.

Proximate analysis of 100 g of leaves¹¹: calories: 44; water: 85%; protein: 3.9%; fat: 0.6%; carbohydrates: 8.2%; fibre: 2.8%; ash: 2.3%; calcium: 663 mg; iron: 7.4 mg; potassium: 35 mg; carotene: 2670 µg; thiamine: 0.04 mg; riboflavin: 0.20 mg; niacin: 2.5 mg; ascorbic acid: 28 mg.

TRAMIL Work¹²

The freeze-dried aqueous extract (decoction) from fresh leaves (5 g/kg) orally in albino mice significantly decreased the speed of intestinal transit.

TRAMIL Work¹³

The cooked stems and leaves and their juice (1 mg/ml) in vitro had no activity against Salmonella typhi, Shigella dysenteriae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa or Staphylococcus aureus.

TRAMIL Work¹⁴

The freeze-dried aqueous extract (decoction) from the aerial parts (75 mg/ml, 1 g/kg/day/5 days), orally in Hsd:ICR mice (10 males and 10 females), RIVAPLAMED model (CYTED 2002), did not demonstrate any sedative effects nor sleep induction. The control was carried out with distilled and deionised water (0.5 ml/animal/day) with another 10 mice of the same strain and characteristics.

The ethanolic leaf extract (200 and 400 mg/kg) orally in male Swiss mice showed antinociceptive activity¹⁵.

The hydroalcoholic leaf extract at 2% (100 mg/kg), orally in 15 male Sprague-Dawley rats, did not stimulate the cholinergic and sympathetic pathways, nor did it have a selective depressant effect on the central nervous system, but it showed an analgesic effect in the observation test in rat boxes¹⁶.

The aqueous leaf extract (250 mg/kg), intraperitoneally in Swiss female mice, showed no psychotropic activity, but reduced spontaneous activity¹⁷.

The freeze-dried aqueous extract (10% decoction) from fresh aerial parts in doses of 0.1 ml/g or from dry aerial parts (10%; 7.5, 15, 75, 400 and 700 mg/kg), intraperitoneally in male C57 mice, open field exploratory activity model, controlled with diazepam (0.1, 0.5, 1 and 5 mg/kg), chlorpromazine (0.2, 2 and 7.5 mg/kg) and haloperidol (0.1, 0.3, 1 and 5 mg/kg), showed significant sedative effect and dose-dependency similar to controls¹⁸.

The aqueous extract (4% decoction) from fresh and dried aerial parts (0.2 ml/20 g) and the freeze-dried decoction from dried aerial parts (50, 300 and 2000 mg/kg), intraperitoneally in C57 mice, on exploratory and aggressive behaviour and convulsions induced by pentylenetetrazol, and to infantile rats on excitation produced by phencyclidine (schizophrenomimetic drug), reduced the aggressive behaviour and exploratory activity, but did not prevent convulsions due to pentylenetetrazol. In addition, it blocked phencyclidine-induced excitation¹⁹.

The aqueous extract (5% decoction) from fresh leaves (0.2 ml/20 g body weight), intraperitoneally in mice, did not protect against convulsions induced by pentylenetetrazol and picrotoxin, unlike diazepam. The results indicate that the sedative effect would correspond more to the mechanism of neuroleptics than that of benzodiazepines²⁰.

The aqueous extracts (decoction) from the aerial parts (2 and 6%) orally in 10 healthy adults (25-35 years), in a controlled clinical study, produced significant electroencephalographic alterations, manifested in broad band spectral measurements (BBSMs) suggesting neurotropic activity²¹.

Coumarin and swertisin are believed to have sedative, spasmolytic and smooth muscle relaxant activity¹⁷.

Pharmacopoeia

Ed.3

References

1 WENIGER B, ROUZIER M, 1986
Enquête TRAMIL. Service Oecuménique d'Entraide SOE, Port au Prince, Haïti.

2 CHARLES C, 1988
TRAMIL survey. Movement for Cultural Awareness MCA, Roseau, Dominica.

3 LONGUEFOSSE JL, NOSSIN E, 1990-95
Enquête TRAMIL. Association pour la valorisation des plantes médicinales de la Caraïbe AVPMC, Fort de France, Martinique.

4 CARBALLO A, 1990
Encuesta TRAMIL. Centro de investigación de fitoterapia y medicina tradicional de Topes de Collantes, Trinidad, Cuba.

5 OCAMPO R, 1988
Encuesta TRAMIL (Costa atlántica), Instituto de Desarrollo Agrario, Universidad de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica.

6 MOREJON Z, LOPEZ M, GARCIA MJ, BOUCOURT E, VICTORIA M, FUENTES V, MORON F, BOULOGNE I, ROBINEAU L, 2009
Encuesta TRAMIL preliminar a grupos de vecinos en los municipios 10 de Octubre, Lisa, Marianao, Habana del Este (Cojímar) en la Ciudad de la Habana. Laboratorio Central de Farmacología, Universidad de Ciencias Médicas de La Habana, Ciudad de La Habana, Cuba.

7 SOLIS PN, VASQUEZ Y, AYALA H, GUPTA MP, 2002
Informe de validación de algunas plantas tramil. Fase iii. Informe TRAMIL. Centro de Investigaciones Farmacognósticas de la Flora Panameña CIFLORPAN, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Panamá, Panamá, Panamá.

8 WENIGER B, SAVARY H, DAGUIHL R, 1984
Tri phytochimique de plantes de la liste TRAMIL. Laboratoire de chimie des substances naturelles, Faculté de Médecine et de Pharmacie, Université d'Etat d'Haïti, Port au Prince, Haïti.

9 DE VRIES JX, TAUSCHER B, WURZEL G, 1988
Constituents of Justicia pectoralis Jacq. 2. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry of simple coumarins, 3-phenylpropionic acids and their hydroxy and methoxy derivatives. Biomed Environ Mass Spectrom 15(8):413-417.

10 JOSEPH H, GLEYE J, MOULIS C, MENSAH L, ROUSSAKIS C, GRATAS C, 1988
Justicidin B, a cytotoxic principle from Justicia pectoralis. J Nat Prod 51(3):599-600.

11 DUKE JA, ATCHLEY AA, 1986
Handbook of proximate analysis tables of higher plants. Boca Raton, USA: CRC Press, p90.

12 GARCIA GM, COTO MT, GONZALEZ CS, PAZOS L, 1998
Velocidad del tránsito intestinal en ratón, del extracto acuoso de hoja fresca de Justicia pectoralis. Informe TRAMIL. Laboratorio de Ensayos Biológicos LEBi, Escuela de Medicina, Universidad de Costa Rica, San Pedro, Costa Rica.

13 CACERES A, 2000
Actividad de Justicia pectoralis contra las bacterias causales de infecciones respiratorias. Informe TRAMIL. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas y Farmacia, Universidad de San Carlos USAC, Guatemala, Guatemala.

14 PAZOS L, COTO T, GONZALEZ S, 2003
Actividad sedante-tranquilizante, en ratones, del extracto acuoso de partes aéreas de Justicia pectoralis. Informe TRAMIL. Laboratorio de Ensayos Biológicos LEBi, Universidad de Costa Rica, San Pedro, Costa Rica.

15 LEAL LK, FERREIRA AA, BEZERRA GA, MATOS FJ, VIANA GS, 2000
Antinociceptive, anti-inflammatory and bronchodilator activities of Brazilian medicinal plants containing coumarin: a comparative study. J Ethnopharm 70(2):151-159.

16 FICA BURGOS SE, 2005
Efecto de la administración del extracto de Justicia pectoralis sobre la conducta de ratas sometidas a pruebas de comportamiento. Memoria de título de médico veterinario. Instituto de Farmacología, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad Austral de Chile.

17 MACRAE WD, TOWERS GH, 1984
Justicia pectoralis: A study of the basis for its use as a hallucinogenic snuff ingredient. J Ethnopharmacol 12(1):93-111.

18 FERNANDEZ L, PEREZ SAAD H, MAS R, RODRIGUEZ L, GAIAN L, BISCAY R, 1987
Efecto de Justicia pectoralis sobre la conducta exploratoria en ratones. En: Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas. Estudios avanzados en neurociencias. La Habana, Cuba: Editorial CENIC. pp257-264.

19 FERNANDEZ L, MAS R, PEREZ SAAD H, BISCAY R, GALAN L, 1989
Evaluación preliminar de los efectos neurofarmacológicos de Justicia pectoralis. Rev Cub Farm 23(1/2):161-166.

20 PEREZ SAAD H, MAS R, FERNANDEZ L, RODRIGUEZ RIVERA L, 1987
Justicia pectoralis no previene las convulsiones inducidas por PTZ y PTX. En: Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas (CENIC) Ed. Estudios avanzados en neurociencias. La Habana, Cuba: Editorial CENIC. pp265-272.

21 RODRIGUEZ E, VIRNES A, ALEMAN J, 1989
Estudio preliminar del efecto de Justicia pectoralis sobre el EEG de adultos normales. Rev Cub Farm 23(3):302-308.

22 GARCIAGM, COTO MT, OCAMPO R, GONZALEZ CS, PAZOS L, 2001
Toxicidad aguda en ratones del extracto acuoso de partes aéreas de Justicia pectoralis. Informe TRAMIL. Laboratorio de Ensayos Biológicos LEBi, Escuela de Medicina, Universidad de Costa Rica, San Pedro, Costa Rica.

23 MARTINEZ MJ, LOPEZ M, BETANCOURT J, FUENTES V, MOREJON Z, MORON, F, BOUCOURT E, 2002
Toxicidad aguda tópica de Justicia pectoralis Jacq. Informe TRAMIL. Facultad de Medicina "Dr. Salvador Allende". Laboratorio Central de Farmacología. La Habana, Cuba.

24 MARTINEZ MJ, LOPEZ M, BETANCOURT J, FUENTES V, MOREJON Z, MORON, F, BOUCOURT E, 2002
Irritabilidad dérmica primaria de Justicia pectoralis Jacq. Informe TRAMIL. Facultad de Medicina "Dr. Salvador Allende". Laboratorio Central de Farmacología. La Habana, Cuba.

25 PILOTO FERRER J, VIZOSO A, RAMOS A, GARCIA A, REMIGIO A, VEGA Y, GONZALEZ ML, RODRIGUEZ C, CARBALLO C, 2009
Plantas medicinales. Diez años de evaluaciones toxicogenéticas en el CIDEM. Boletín Latinoamericano y del Caribe de Plantas Medicinales y Aromáticas, 8(5):428-434.

26 BERMUDEZ D, MONTEAGUDO E, BOFFILL M, DIAZ LE, ROCA SA, 2006
Evaluación de la toxicidad aguda de extractos de plantas medicinales por un método alternativo. Revista Electrónica de Veterinaria 8(3)(05-2007). www.veterinaria.org/revistas/redvet/n030307/030706.pdf

27 LAGARTO A, BUENO V, GUERRA I, VALDES O, GABILONDO T, RODRIGUEZ J, 2009
Acute and subchronic oral toxicities of Justicia pectoralis extract in Wistar rats. The Open Natural Products Journal 2(1):53-58.

28 PARRA AL, YHEBRA RS, SARDINAS IG, BUELA LI, 2001
Comparative study of the assay of Artemia salina L. and the estimate of the medium lethal dose (LD₅₀ value) in mice, to determine oral acute toxicity of plant extracts. Phytomedicine 8(5):395-400.

Disclaimer

The information provided is for educational purposes only for the benefit of the general public and health professionals. It is not intended to take the place of either the written law or regulations. Since some parts of plants could be toxic, might induce side effects, or might have interactions with certain drugs, anyone intending to use them or their products must first consult with a physician or another qualified health care professional. TRAMIL has no responsibility whatsoever towards the user for any decision, action or omission made in relation to the information contained in this Pharmacopoeia.

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Justicia pectoralis

Vernacular names

Haiti:

Costa Rica:

Cuba:

Martinique:

Dominica:

Dominica:

French Guiana:

Puerto Rico:

Costa Rica:

Guadeloupe:

Haiti:

Cuba:

Martinique:

Geographical distribution

Botanical description

Voucher(s)

Pharmacopoeia

References

Disclaimer