Manjistha herb Rubia cordifolia

The medicinal plant Manjistha has been used widely in traditional Asian medicine for its antibacterial, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities.

Manjistha and cancer
Manjistha herb has several anti cancer compounds including epoxymollugin.

Role of Rubia cordifolia Linn. in radiation protection.
Indian J Exp Biol. 2007 July. Tripathi YB, Singh AV. Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi-221 005, India.
The radioprotective potential of alcoholic extract of root of Manjistha was studied by survival, hemopoietic cell protection and micronucleus assay. The LD50 value for the alcoholic root extract was found to be 1200 mg/kg body weight at 72 hr post irradiation. A significant radiation protection (67%) as assessed by increased animal survival was observed when Rubia cordifolia extract was administered intraperitoneally, 90 min. before the radiation exposure. Besides, the extract also inhibited radiation induced lipid peroxidation measured by the inhibition of thiobarbituric acid reactive substance. Our results indicate that the alcoholic root extract of Manjistha provides significant protection against radiation induced lipid peroxidation, hemopoietic injury and genotoxicity. The mechanism of action of Manjistha extract appears to be through its anti-oxidant, metal chelation and anti-inflammatory property.

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