A herb can have unique properties beneficial to human or animal health. Over the years, scientists have been researching them to find out their use and save billions of lives. And of all the ailments, cancer is one of the most life-threatening, which has no guaranteed treatment so far. But this time, an Indian herb is going to change this.
A herb from Kerala named ‘Manathakkali’ (Black nightshade or Solanum nigrum), a berry-bearing shrub commonly found in the state, has the potential to cure liver cancer.
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has found that a compound isolated from the plant can treat cancer. The FDA has given the compound an ‘orphan drug’ designation, which helps develop and evaluate new treatments for rare diseases. It will also help fast-track the drug’s approval.
The research is based on the findings of a team of scientists at Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB). As per reports, RGCB senior scientist Dr. Ruby John Anto and her student Dr. Lekshmi R Nath isolated the drug molecule – Uttroside-B from the leaves of the Manathakkali plant.
There is only one FDA-approved drug available for liver cancer treatment at present. But the new compound is found to be more effective than the one available. Also, toxicity evaluation in human volunteers has shown that the compound effectively treats fatty liver.
The team is currently studying the compound’s mechanism of action and evaluating its efficacy against fatty liver disease, non-alcoholic SteatoHepatitis, and liver cancer caused by food toxins. This is done in collaboration with Dr. L Ravishankar (CSIR-NIST, Thiruvananthapuram), who has developed a novel method to isolate the compound from the solanum nigrum leaves.
The liver primarily detoxifies food while aiding digestion, is increasingly susceptible to cancer in modern times. About 8 lakh people are killed annually, even as 9 lakh new cases are reported every year.