Withania somnifera - Ashwagandha

Botanical name: Withania somnifera (L.) Dun
Sanskrit name: Ashwagandha

withania somnifera have been traditionally used for the Ayurvedic system as aphrodisiacs, diuretics and for treating memory loss.

Ashwagandha is reported to have anti-carcinogenic effects in animal and cell cultures by decreasing the expression of nuclear factor-kappaB, suppressing intercellular tumor necrosis factor, and potentiating apoptotic signalling in cancerous cell lines

The Japanese patent applications are related to the use of the herb as a skin ointment and for promoting reproductive fertility. The U.S based company Natreon has also obtained a patent for an Ashwagandha extract.

Another US establishment, the New England Deaconess Hospital, has taken a patent on an Ashwagandha formulation claimed to alleviate symptoms associated with arthritis.

Patents:
External preparations for skin whitening
Method of treating musculoskeletal disease
Method and composition for treatment of diabetes
For treating viral infections

Published articles on ashwagandha. About 258 articles are indexed by pubmed. Latest 20 articles are mentioned below.


1: Kulkarni SK, Dhir A.
Withania somnifera: An Indian ginseng.
Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 2008 Jul 1;32(5):1093-105. Epub 2007 Sep 21.
PMID: 17959291

2: Anwer T, Sharma M, Pillai KK, Iqbal M.
Effect of Withania somnifera on insulin sensitivity in non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus rats.
Basic Clin Pharmacol Toxicol. 2008 Jun;102(6):498-503. Epub 2008 Mar 16.
PMID: 18346053

3: Sangwan RS, Das Chaurasiya N, Lal P, Misra L, Tuli R, Sangwan NS.
Withanolide A is inherently de novo biosynthesized in roots of the medicinal plant Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera).
Physiol Plant. 2008 Jun;133(2):278-87. Epub 2008 Feb 26.
PMID: 18312497

4: Martín-Herrera D, Abdala S, Benjumea D, Gutiérrez-Luis J.
Diuretic activity of some Withania aristata Ait. fractions.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2008 May 22;117(3):496-9. Epub 2008 Mar 14.
PMID: 18420363

5: Baldi A, Singh D, Dixit VK.
Dual Elicitation for Improved Production of Withaferin A by Cell Suspension Cultures of Withania somnifera.
Appl Biochem Biotechnol. 2008 May 1.
PMID: 18449479

6: Abhilash PC, Jamil S, Singh V, Singh A, Singh N, Srivastava SC.
Occurrence and distribution of hexachlorocyclohexane isomers in vegetation samples from a contaminated area.
Chemosphere. 2008 May;72(1):79-86. Epub 2008 Mar 7.
PMID: 18329069

7: Deocaris CC, Widodo N, Wadhwa R, Kaul SC.
Merger of ayurveda and tissue culture-based functional genomics: inspirations from systems biology.
J Transl Med. 2008 Mar 18;6:14. Review.
PMID: 18348714

8: Chaurasiya ND, Uniyal GC, Lal P, Misra L, Sangwan NS, Tuli R, Sangwan RS.
Analysis of withanolides in root and leaf of Withania somnifera by HPLC with photodiode array and evaporative light scattering detection.
Phytochem Anal. 2008 Mar;19(2):148-54.
PMID: 17879227

9: Misra L, Lal P, Chaurasia ND, Sangwan RS, Sinha S, Tuli R.
Selective reactivity of 2-mercaptoethanol with 5beta,6beta-epoxide in steroids from Withania somnifera.
Steroids. 2008 Mar;73(3):245-51. Epub 2007 Oct 24.
PMID: 18061225

10: Misra L, Mishra P, Pandey A, Sangwan RS, Sangwan NS, Tuli R.
Withanolides from Withania somnifera roots.
Phytochemistry. 2008 Feb;69(4):1000-4. Epub 2007 Dec 3.
PMID: 18061221

11: Nair V, Arjuman A, Gopalakrishna HN, Nandini M.
Effect of Withania somnifera root extract on haloperidol-induced catalepsy in albino mice.
Phytother Res. 2008 Feb;22(2):243-6.
PMID: 17886228

12: Hamza A, Amin A, Daoud S.
The protective effect of a purified extract of Withania somnifera against doxorubicin-induced cardiac toxicity in rats.
Cell Biol Toxicol. 2008 Jan;24(1):63-73. Epub 2007 May 23.
PMID: 17520333

13: Malik F, Kumar A, Bhushan S, Khan S, Bhatia A, Suri KA, Qazi GN, Singh J.
Reactive oxygen species generation and mitochondrial dysfunction in the apoptotic cell death of human myeloid leukemia HL-60 cells by a dietary compound withaferin A with concomitant protection by N-acetyl cysteine.
Apoptosis. 2007 Nov;12(11):2115-33.
PMID: 17874299

14: Nair V, Arjuman A, Dorababu P, Gopalakrishna HN, Chakradhar Rao U, Mohan L.
Effect of NR-ANX-C (a polyherbal formulation) on haloperidol induced catalepsy in albino mice.
Indian J Med Res. 2007 Nov;126(5):480-4.
PMID: 18160755

15: Hu JY, Saedler H.
Evolution of the inflated calyx syndrome in Solanaceae.
Mol Biol Evol. 2007 Nov;24(11):2443-53. Epub 2007 Sep 6.
PMID: 17827172

16: Gupta GL, Rana AC.
Protective effect of Withania somnifera dunal root extract against protracted social isolation induced behavior in rats.
Indian J Physiol Pharmacol. 2007 Oct-Dec;51(4):345-53.
PMID: 18476388

17: Singh D, Aggarwal A, Maurya R, Naik S.
Withania somnifera inhibits NF-kappaB and AP-1 transcription factors in human peripheral blood and synovial fluid mononuclear cells.
Phytother Res. 2007 Oct;21(10):905-13.
PMID: 17562568

18: Kaileh M, Berghe WV, Boone E, Essawi T, Haegeman G.
Screening of indigenous Palestinian medicinal plants for potential anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic activity.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2007 Sep 25;113(3):510-6. Epub 2007 Jul 14.
PMID: 17716845

19: Martín-Herrera D, Abdala S, Benjumea D, Pérez-Paz P.
Diuretic activity of Withania aristata: an endemic Canary Island species.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2007 Sep 25;113(3):487-91. Epub 2007 Jul 10.
PMID: 17706904

20: Madina BR, Sharma LK, Chaturvedi P, Sangwan RS, Tuli R.
Purification and characterization of a novel glucosyltransferase specific to 27beta-hydroxy steroidal lactones from Withania somnifera and its role in stress responses.
Biochim Biophys Acta. 2007 Sep;1774(9):1199-207. Epub 2007 Jul 12.
PMID: 17704015