| Introduction: |
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| Bergenia ligulata is known as pashanabheda in ayurveda. Pashanabheda is also known as “stonebreaker”. It is a perennial climbing plant that grows well in moist and shady hilly areas, especially in the foothills of the Himalayas and the Khasi hills of Assam. The stems are short and thick and the leaves ovate and bright red seasonally. The flowers are white, pink or purple. Pashanbheda is one of the prominent ayurvedic herbs for acute and chronic urinary tract infection (UTI), stone in kidney, ureter, bladder and urethra. |
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| Major Chemical Constituents: |
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| From the rhizomes of B. ligulata only bergenin and b-sitosterol have been isolated. The rhizomes of B. ciliata yield gallolylated leucoanthoeyanidin-4-(2-galloyl) glucoside as well. The roots of B. stracheyi contain a new catechin derivative (+) catechin-3- gallate |
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| Pharmacological Actions |
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Uro-litholytic action:1,2
Tribulus terrestris and Bergenia ligulata are commonly used as herbal medicines for urinary calculi in India. To verify the inhibitive effect, aqueous extracts of Tribulus terrestris and Bergenia ligulata were added along with the supernatant solutions. The growth was measured and compared, with and without the aqueous extracts. Inhibition of Calcium oxalate monohydrate (COM) crystal growth was observed in the herbal extracts. Maximum inhibition was observed in Bergenia ligulata followed by Tribulus terrestris. Another study indicates the antiurolithic activity in Bergenia ligulata mediated possibly through CaC(2)O(4) crystal inhibition, diuretic, hypermagneseuric and antioxidant effects and this study rationalizes its medicinal use in urolithiasis. |
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Diuretic action: 3
In normal remedies, it is used for urinary stone problems. It is also known as for its diuretic effect. |
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Anti-inflammatory & Analgesic activity: 4
Alcoholic extracts of Bergenia ligulata has exhibited significant analgesic, anti-inflammatory and diuretic activity. |
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| Herb Drug interactions: |
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| There are no known interactions. |
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| Safety: |
| Its cardiotoxic, antidiuretic and CNS depressant action on experimental models have been reported with large doses. It is unlikely that these effects will be encountered with the doses in clinical use. In rats, the LD (50), of the aqueous extract was 650 mg/kg intraperitoneally. |
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| Reference |
| 1 |
Joshi VS, Parekh BB, Joshi MJ. Herbal extracts of Tribulus terrestris and Bergenia ligulata inhibit growth of calcium oxalate monohydrate crystals in vitro J Crystal Growth. 2009 Feb 15; 275 (1-2): e1403-e1408 |
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| 2 |
Bashir S, Gilani AH. Antiurolithic effect of Bergenia ligulata rhizome: an explanation of the underlying mechanisms. J Ethnopharmacol. 2009 Feb 25;122 (1):106-16. |
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| 3 |
Gogte VM (2000) Ayurvedic pharmacology and therapeutic uses of medicinal plants. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s SPARC. |
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| 4 |
Chandrareddy UD, Chawla AS, Mundkinajeddu D, Maurya R and Handa SS Paashaanolactone from Bergenia ligulata. Phytochemistry. 1998; 47(5): 907-909 |
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