Pharmacological and phytoconstituent profile of desmodium gangeticum-an update

Several plants have been used and documented in the traditional and folklore system of medicine. The uniqueness of herbal medicines is their origin, which being nature itself, renders them compatible to human physiology. Another remarkable feature of the herbal plants is their composition. Plants constitute a variety of chemical compounds, which exert different actions and thereby exhibit surprising effects inside the human body. Unlike synthetic molecules, which work in a single-target centric manner to correct the physiological anomaly, phytoconstituents present in herbal medicines exert a multi-targeted mode of action, in a concerted fashion, thus regaining the physiological equilibrium. In this way, herbal plants heal a pathological state moderately, in a holistic fashion, without disturbing the cellular homeostasis. This review is on one of the plants, Desmodium gangeticum (DG), present in the popularly used Ayurvedic preparation, Dasamula kvatha, a dietary supplement. Among the ten constituent roots, which gives Dashmoola its name, one of the roots is from DG. DG, an indigenous plant, has been studied extensively by Indian researchers and the outcome is noteworthy as DG has established its potential in treating disorders originating in almost all the major organs, including brain, heart, liver and gastrointestinal tract. Owing to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, DG, also marks a potential role in treating wounds, nociception and arthritic inflammation. So varied are its uses, that it led researchers to explore its phytoconstituent profile, which imparts DG the special characters to cure variety of ailments. In this review, we have tried to consolidate the pharmacological studies on DG done so far, along with a detailed documentation of its phytoconstituents and their reported pharmacological actions.