 Gen info
Genus name derives from the Greek god Tithonus, a favorite of Aurora, goddess of dawn.
Botany
Small to medium-sized annual shrub with rather stout, almost glabrous branches. Leaves are alternate, petioled, membranaceous, ovate to orbicular, entire or 3- to 5-lobed, with toothed margins.
Distribution
Introduced to the Philippines as an ornamental.
Has escaped cultivation to become a weed in waste places.
Constituents
- Leaf oil showed an abundance of a-pinene (32.9%), b-caryophyllene (20.8%), germacrene D (12.6%), b-pinene (10.9%), and 1,8-cineole (9.1%).
- Flower oil yielded germacrene D (20.3%), b-caryophyllene (20.1%) and bicyclogermacrene (8%).
Properties
Properties
Parts used
Parts used.
Uses
Folkloric
No reported folkloric medicinal use in the Philippines.
In Central America, leaf extracts are used externally for the treatment of wounds and hematomas.
Others
Others
 Studies
• Analgesic / Anti-Inflammatory: Study of methanol extract of dried leaves of TD produced dose-related inhibition of carrageenan-induced paw edema and cotton pellet-induced granuloma in rats. The analgesic effect was observed with hot plate latency assays. Results confrim the traditional use of TD for the treatment of painful inflammatory conditions.
• Toxicity Studies: (1) Study of a 70% methanol extract showed a dose- and time-dependent toxic effect. Used in mice to reduce parasitemia with Plasmodium, the observed kidney and liver toxcity at the lowest dose tested, although reversible, raises concern over the safety of the use of the plant extract against malaria. (2) Study resulsts on the aqueous extracts of TD leaves suggest it may have adverse effects on the functions of the liver, heart and kidney.
• Sesquiterpene Lactones / Anti-Inflammatory / Antibacterial: The main sesquiterpene lactones of species growing in Costa Rica – diversifolin, diversifolin methyl ester and tirotundin – were studied for their anti-inflammatory activity. Results showed inhibitory activity of the 3 compounds, attributed to aklation of cysteine residues. Diversifolin was also found to have antibacterial activity, moderately active against B subtilis.
• Antimicrobial: Chemical analysis of the leaf of Tithonia yielded sesquiterpene lactones, e.g. Tagitinin which possess insecticidal properties. Study showed it possessed antimicrobial activity, active against both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, with activity against S aureus, E coli and P aeruginosa, suggesting they can be used in treating gastrointestinal infections, skin diseases and urinary tract infections in man.
• Anti-Diabetic: Study on an 80% ethanol extract of TD showed reduction of blood glucose in KK-ay mice 3 weeks after a single oral dose, also significantly lowering plasma insulin, decreasing blood glucose in an insulin tolerance test. Results suggest it may be useful for the treatment of type2 diabetes.
• Potential Cancer Chemopreventive: Study isolated three new sesquiterpenoids – 2a-hydroxytirotundin, tithofolinolide, and 3a-acetoxy-8b-isobutyryloxyreynosin along with 8 known sesquiterpene lactones. Among the isolates, 2 compounds showed significant antiproliferative activity, 3 compounds induced HL-60 cellular differentiation, one significantly inhibited lesion formation in the mouse mammary organ culture assay.
• Antimicrobial / Germacranolide-type Sesquiterpene Lactone: Results indicate the non-polar leaf extract of T diversifolia could be useful in the treatment of some disease conditions and the sesquiterpene lactone is a potential candidate as a phytotherapeutic agent against some bacterial infections.
• Anti-Inflammatory / Hepatoprotective: Results indicate the treatment with a water extract of the aerial part of T diversifolia decreased paw edema induced by carrageenan, with reduction of the elevated liver enzymes, with improvement in the pathologic hepatic changes caused by carbon tetrachloride.
• Anti-Malarial / Repellant: The aqueous and methanolic extracts had 50% and 74% clearing of parasites respectively, compared to 100% for chloroquine, more effecgtive when administered at the onset of infection, suggesting a time-dependency of the anti-malarial effects. On mosquitocidal repellency, although the volatile oil extract showed higher repellent effect on Anapholes gambiae, its repellant and protective effects on all the other species of mosquito can not be underestimated.
Availability
Wild-crafted.
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