Botany
Sugpon-sugpon, a perennial climber, is a smooth vine with fleshy, green stout, four-angled stems which are 1 to 1.5 cm thick and much contracted at the nodes. Internodes, one from each node, broadly ovate or traingular-reniform, 4 to 6 cm long, somwhat fleshy, distantly toothed with small, appressed, sharp teeth, blunt at the tip, broad and heart-shaped at the base. Flowers are pinkish, about 2.5 mm long and borne on small axillary cymes. Fruit is rounded, fleshy, and succulent.
 Distribution
- In dry thickets in and about towns at low altitudes, in Cagayan, Batangas, and Rizal Provinces in Luzon: in Negros, Cebu, and Siquijor.
- Certainly Introduced.
- Also reported from India to tropical Africa and Java.
Constituents
- Rich in carotenoids, triterpenoids and ascorbic acid.
- Phytochemical studies have yielded flavonoids, triterpenoids, vitamin C, stilbene derivatives, piceatannon, resveratrol, pallidol perthenocissin and phytosterols.
Properties
Considered alterative, bone-healing, antibacterial, antifungal, antioxidant, anthelmintic, antihemorrhoidal, analgesic, anti-asthmatic, and stomachic.
Properties
Stems, roots, young shoots.
Uses
Folkloric
- In the Philippines, sap or juice of stems used as drops for otorrhea and epistaxis.
- Also used as alterative for menstrual irregularities.
- Powdered roots used for fractures of the bones, with the effect of ordinary plasters.
Leaves of young shoots, dried and powdered, used for bowel complaints associated with indigestion. Also, used as powerful alterative.
- Used for scurvy and irregular menstruation.
- Paste used in asthma.
- Stem preparation boiled in lime-water used as stomachic.
- In Ayurveda, used as tonic and analgesic.
- Used for osteoporosis, asthma, cough, hemorrhoids and gonorrhea.
- Used for the treatment of gastritis, bone fractures, skin infections, constipation, eye diseases, hemorrhoids, anemia, asthma, irregular menstruation, burns and wounds.
Studies
• Antioxidant: Study of two weeds, Chenopodium album and Vitis trifolia, showed significant reducing power and free radical scavenging effect on DPPH, hydroxyl, superoxide, hydrogen peroxide radicals.
• Anti-Obesity / Weight Loss / Metabolic Syndrome: (1) Sudy of C quadrangularis and a proprietary cissus-formulation showed both caused significant reductions in weight and blood glucose levels, lowered serum lipids with consequent improvement of cardiovascular risk factors. The increase in plasma 5-HT and creatinine hypothesizes a mechanism for controlling appetite and increasing lean body mass, providing support for the clinical data on weight loss. (2) Study showed statistically significant net reductions in weight and central obesity, as well as reductions in fasting blood sugars, total cholesterol, LDL, triglycerides and C-reactive protein.
• Bone Healing: (1) Study evaluating the effect of a methanolic extract of Cissus quadrangularis on the healing process of experimentally fractured radius-ulna of dog showed CQ treated animals revealed faster initiation of the healing process than the controlled animals on radiological and histopath exams. (2) Study isolated a phytogenic anabolic steroid which may act on estrogenic receptors of the bone. CQ might act by stimulation of metabolism and increased uptake of minerals calcium, sulphur, and strontium by the osteoblasts in fracture healing.
• Anti-Ulcer: (1) Study evaluated the anti-ulcer activity of a methanolic extract of Cissus quadrangularis in an aspirin-induced gastric ulcer model. Results showed CQE promotes ulcer protection by decreasing the ulcer index, as shown by histopath and analysis of CRP. Compared to ranitidine, CQE was found to have a better protective effect. (2) Methanolic extract showed an ulcer-protective effect comparable to reference drug sucralfate. CQ significantly increase mucosal defensive factors like mucin secretion, mucosal cell proliferation, glycoproteins and life span of cells, and promoting healing by inducing cellular proliferation.
• Toxicity Study: Study in rats showed CQ did not produce any significant dose-related changes in hematological parameters and showed no histopathological lesion on any internal organ.
• Analgesic: Study exhibited significant dose-related analgesic activity compared to that of aspirin.
• Antiosteoporotic Effect: Study of ethanol extract of the plant significantly inhibited antianabolic effects, with beneficial effects on recovery of bone mineral density in postmenopausal osteoporosis.
• Anabolic and Androgenic Activity: In addition to enhancing the remodeling of bone, CQ leads to a faster increase in bone tensile strength. By exerting an anabolic, antiglucocorticoid effect, CQ preserves muscle tissue during physical and emotional stress.
• Anti-Inflammatory: Study confirmed CQ has an inhibitory effect on edema induced by carrageenin and arachidonic acid, with evidence of inhibition of both cyclooxygenase and lipoxygenase pathways. The anti-inflammatory activity is comparable to aspirin or ibuprofen.
• Antihemorrhoidal and Venotonic Activity: Phytochemical study yielded significant flavonoids. The bioflavonoids, especially diosmin, hesperidin, and oligomeric proanthocyanidin complexes have demonstrated potential in the treatment of hemorrhoids and varicose veins.
Availability
Wild-crafted.
Extracts in the cybermarket.
|
