Tinospora cordifolia

Tinospora cordifolia, also called Guduchi is an herbaceous vine of the family Menispermaceae indigenous to the tropical areas of India, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.

Synonyms: Guduchi , amrita (Sanskrit), giloe , gulancha (Bengali), giloya (Hindi), gado , galo (Gujarati), duyutige , teppatige (Telugu), heartleaf moonseed (English)

According to the 1911 British Pharmaceutical Codex, "Tinospora or Gulancha consists of the dried stem of Tinospora cordifolia, Miers (N.O. Menispermaceae), a climbing shrub indigenous to tropical India. The stems are collected in the hot season and dried. The drug occurs in straight or twisted cylindrical pieces and in slices, averaging about 2 centimetres in diameter, some pieces being much smaller. Externally, they are covered with a thin, papery, brown cork, bearing the raised scars of numerous lenticels. The cork readily exfoliates and discloses a greenish cortex longitudinally wrinkled and marked with lenticels. The fracture is fibrous and the transverse section exhibits a yellowish wood with radially arranged wedge-shaped wood bundles, containing large vessels, separated by narrower medullary rays. The odour is not characteristic, but the taste is bitter."[1]

Constituents
The active adaptogenic constituents are diterpene compounds including tinosporone, tinosporic acid, cordifolisides A to E, syringen, the yellow alkaloid, berberine, Giloin, crude Giloininand, a glucosidal bitter principle as well as polysaccharides, including arabinogalactan polysaccharide (TSP).

Ethnobotanical Uses
According to the 1918 United States Dispensatory edited by Joseph Remington, Horatio Wood et al.:

Tinospora. Br. Add. 1900.—"The dried stem of Tinospora cordifolia Miers (Fam. Menispermaceae), collected in the hot season." Br. Add., 1900. Tinospora has long been used in India as a medicine and in the preparation of a starch known as gilae-ka-sat or as palo. It is said to be a tonic, antiperiodic, and a diuretic. Flückiger obtained from it traces of an alkaloid and a bitter glucoside. The Br. Add., 1900, recognized an infusion (Infusum Tinosporae Br. Add., 1900, two ounces to the pint), dose one-half to one fluidounce (15-30 mils); a tincture (Tinctura Tinosporae Br. Add., 1900, four ounces to the pint), dose, one-half to one fluidrachm (1.8-3.75 mils); and a concentrated solution [Liquor Tinosporae Concentratus Br. Add., 1900), dose, one-half to one fluidrachm (1.8-3.75 mils). Tinospora crispa Miers (more), which is abundant in the Philippines, is used freely by the natives under the name of makabuhay (that is, "You may live"), as a panacea, especially valuable in general debility, in chronic rheumatism, and in malarial fevers. It may be prepared in the same way and given in the same doses as Tinospora cordifolia.[4]

Modern use in herbal medicine
Tinospora cordifolia is used in Ayurvedic herbal medicine as a hepatoprotectant, protecting the liver from damage that may occur following exposure to toxins. Recent research has demonstrated that a combination of T. cordifolia extract and turmeric extract is effective in preventing the hepatotoxicity which is otherwise produced as a side effect of conventional pharmaceutical treatments for tuberculosis using drugs such as isoniazid and rifampicin.[5]

References
^ Tinospora, I.C.A. Tinospora. Henriette's Herbal Homepage
^ Winston, David & Maimes, Steven. “Adaptogens: Herbs for Strength, Stamina, and Stress Relief,” Healing Arts Press, 2007.
^ [1]S.S. SINGH, S.C. PANDEY, S. SRIVASTAVA, V.S. GUPTA, B. PATRO, A.C. GHOSHCHEMISTRY AND MEDICINAL PROPERTIES OF TINOSPORA CORDIFOLIA (GUDUCHI)Indian Journal of Pharmacology 2003; 35: 83-91
^ Tinospora. Tinospora cordifolia. Henriette's Herbal Homepage
^ Adhvaryu MR, Reddy MN, Vakharia BC. Prevention of hepatotoxicity due to anti tuberculosis treatment: A novel integrative approach. World Journal of Gastroenterology 2008; 14(30): 4753-4762.

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