Potential neurological applications of Centella asiatica: a brief review
Abstract
Centella asiatica (C. asiatica) or gotu kola has been used traditionally in many Asian countries as herbal medicines for many conditions, such as headache, asthma and memory enhancement. Centella asiatica has been also widely investigated for its neuroprotective effects in animal disease model including epilepsy, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. A brief review of neurological effects studies of C. asiatica in animal model was reported. Eligible studies published through December 2020 from PubMed and EMBASE journal data base were collected. Any keywords related to C. asiatica or gota kola AND neurological conditions were used. The results showed that several experimental studies concerning the neuroprotective properties of C. asiatica have been reported. Phytochemical studies reported that C. asiatica contained many bioactive compounds in which triterpenoids are the most identified. Furthermore, the triterpenoids have proven to have neuroprotective effect due to their effects of anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, improvement of mitochondrial dysfunctions, and increased brain-derived neurotrophic factors. Further studies are needed to investigate the neuroprotective mechanisms of C. asiatica. In conclusion, C. asiatica might have potential as an alternative medicine for neurological conditions, such as stroke, epilepsy, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
References
Plengmuankhae W, Tantitadapitak C. Low temperature and water dehydration increase the levels of asiaticoside and madecassoside in Centella asiatica (L.) Urban. S Afr J Bot 2015; 97:196-203.
https://doi.org/10.1016/jsajb.2015.01.013
Gray NE, Alcazar Magana A, Lak P, Wright KM, Quinn J, Stevens JF, et al. Centella asiatica: phytochemistry and mechanisms of neuroprotection and cognitive enhancement. Phytochem Rev 2018; 17:161-94.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11101-017-9528-y
Orhan IE. Centella asiatica (L.) Urban: from traditional medicine to modern medicine with neuroprotective potential. Evid Based Complement. Alternat Med 2012; 2012:946259.
https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/946259
Zheng CJ, Qin LP. Chemical components of Centella asiatica and their bioactivities. J Chin Integr Med 2007; 5(3):348-51.
https://doi.org/10.3736/jcim20070324
Higgins JPT. Cochrane Collaboration (Eds.). Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions, Second ed. Cochrane book series. Hoboken, NJ, Wiley-Blackwell, 2020.
Sun B, Wu L, Wu Y, Zhang C, Qin L, Hayashi M, et al. Therapeutic potential of Centella asiatica and its triterpenes: a review. Front Pharmacol 2020; 11:568032.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2020.568032
Alasmari F, Alshammari MA, Alasmari AF, Alanazi WA, Alhazzani K. Neuroinflammatory cytokines induce amyloid beta neurotoxicity through modulating amyloid precursor protein levels/metabolism. Biomed Res Int 2018: 2018:3087475
https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/3087475
Zhao Y, Zhang Y, Zhang J, Zhang X, Yang G. Molecular mechanism of autophagy: its role in the therapy of Alzheimer’s disease. Curr Neuropharmacol 2020; 18(8):720-39.
https://doi.org/10.2174/1570159X18666200114163636
Wang Q, Liu Y, Zhou J. Neuroinflammation in Parkinson’s disease and its potential as therapeutic target. Transl Neurodegener 2015; 4:19.
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40035-015-0042-0
Martínez-Cué C, Rueda N. Cellular senescence in neurodegenerative diseases. Front Cell Neurosci 2020; 14:16.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fncel.2020.00016
Mairuae N, Cheepsunthorn P, Buranrat B. Anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative effects of Centella asiatica extract in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated BV2 microglial cells. Pharmacogn Mag 2019; 15(60):140-6.
https://doi.org/10.4103/pm.pm_197_18
Firdaus Z, Singh N, Prajapati SK, Krishnamurthy S, Singh TD. Centella asiatica prevents D-galactose-Induced cognitive deficits, oxidative stress and neurodegeneration in the adult rat brain. Drug Chem Toxicol 2020: 1–10.
https://doi.org/10.1080/01480545.2020.1833907
Shinomol GK, Muralidhara. Effect of Centella asiatica leaf powder on oxidative markers in brain regions of prepubertal mice in vivo and its in vitro efficacy to ameliorate 3-NPA-induced oxidative stress in mitochondria. Phytomedicine 2008; 15(11):971–84.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.phymed.2008.04.010
Kumar A, Dogra S, Prakash A. Neuroprotective effects of Centella asiatica against intracerebroventricular colchicine-induced cognitive impairment and oxidative stress. Int J Alzheimers Dis 2009; 2009:972178.
https://doi.org/10.4061/2009/972178
Veerendra Kumar MH, Gupta Y. Effect of Centella asiatica on cognition and oxidative stress in an intracerebroventricular streptozotocin model of Alzheimer’s disease in rats. Clin Exp Pharmacol Physiol 2003; 30(5-6):336-42.
https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1440-1681.2003.03842.x
Hafiz ZZ, Amin MAM, James RMJ, Teh LK, Salleh MZ, Adenan MI. Inhibitory effects of raw-extract Centella asiatica (RECA) on acetylcholinesterase, inflammations, and oxidative stress activities via in vitro and in vivo. Molecules 2020; 25(4):892.
https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules25040892
Gray NE, Zweig JA, Matthews DG, Caruso M, Quinn JF, Soumyanath A. Centella asiatica attenuates mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress in a β-exposed hippocampal neurons. Oxid Med Cell Longev 2017; 2017:7023091.
https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/7023091
Lima Giacobbo B, Doorduin J, Klein HC, Dierckx RAJO, Bromberg E, de Vries EFJ. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor in brain disorders: focus on neuroinflammation. Mol Neurobiol 2019; 56(5):3295-312.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12035-018-1283-6
Sari DCR, Arfian N, Tranggono U, Setyaningsih WA, Romi MM, Noriaki E. Centella asiatica (Gotu kola) ethanol extract up-regulates hippocampal brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), tyrosine kinase B (TrkB) and extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) signaling in chronic electrical stress model in rats. Iran J Basic Med Sci 2019; 22(10):1218-24.
https://doi.org/10.22038/ijbms.2019.29012.7002
Jiang H, Zheng G, Lv J, Chen H, Lin J, Li Y, et al. Identification of Centella asiatica’s effective ingredients for inducing the neuronal differentiation. Evid Based Complement. Alternat Med 2016; 2016:9634750.
https://doi.org/10.1155/2016/9634750
Rao S, Chetana M, Umadevi P. Centella asiatica treatment during postnatal period enhances learning and memory in mice. Physiol Behav 2005; 86(4):449-57.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2005.07.019
Gray NE, Zweig JA, Caruso M, Martin MD, Zhu JY, Quinn JF, et al. Centella asiatica increases hippocampal synaptic density and improves memory and executive function in aged mice. Brain Behav 2018; 8(7):e01024.
https://doi.org/10.1002/brb3.1024
Thong-Asa W, Tilokskulchai K, Chompoopong S, Tantisira MH. Effect of Centella asiatica on pathophysiology of mild chronic cerebral hypoperfusion in rats. Avicenna J. Phytomed 2018; 8(3):210-26.
Visweswari G, Prasad KS, Chetan PS, Lokanatha V, Rajendra W. Evaluation of the anticonvulsant effect of Centella asiatica (gotu kola) in pentylenetetrazol-induced seizures with respect to cholinergic neurotransmission. Epilepsy Behav 2010; 17(3):332-5.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yebeh.2010.01.002
Lee KY, Bae ON, Serfozo K, Hejabian S, Moussa A, Reeves M, et al. Asiatic acid attenuates infarct volume, mitochondrial dysfunction, and matrix metalloproteinase-9 induction after focal cerebral ischemia. Stroke 2012; 43(6):1632-8.
https://doi.org/10.1161/STROKEAHA.111.639427
Tabassum R, Vaibhav K, Shrivastava P, Khan A, Ahmed ME, Javed H, et al. Centella asiatica attenuates the neurobehavioral, neurochemical and histological changes in transient focal middle cerebral artery occlusion rats. Neurol Sci 2013; 34(6):925-33.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-012-1163-1
Rather MA, Thenmozhi AJ, Manivasagam T, Saravanababu C, Guillemin GJ, Essa MM. Asiatic acid attenuated aluminum chloride-induced Tau pathology, oxidative stress and apoptosis via AKT/GSK-3β signaling pathway in Wistar rats. Neurotox Res 2019; 35(4):955-68.
