Immunomodulatory actions of a Polynesian herb Noni (Morinda citrifolia) and its clinical applications

Madhukar Lohani; Mohammed Majrashi; Manoj Govindarajulu; Mansi Patel; Sindhu Ramesh; Dwipayan Bhattacharya; Sneha Joshi; Maali Fadan; Rishi Nadar; Benjamin Darien; Denzil V Maurice; Barbara Kemppainen; Muralikrishnan Dhanasekaran

doi:10.1016/j.ctim.2019.102206

Immunomodulatory actions of a Polynesian herb Noni (Morinda citrifolia) and its clinical applications

Complement Ther Med. 2019 Dec:47:102206. doi: 10.1016/j.ctim.2019.102206. Epub 2019 Oct 3.

Affiliations

¹ Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Auburn, AL 36830, USA.
² Department of Drug Discovery and Development, Harrison School of Pharmacy, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, 36849, USA; Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Jeddah, Jeddah, 23881, Saudi Arabia.
³ Department of Drug Discovery and Development, Harrison School of Pharmacy, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, 36849, USA.
⁴ Department of Medical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI, 53706, USA.
⁵ Animal and Veterinary Sciences, College of Agriculture, Clemson University, Clemson, 29634, USA.
⁶ Department of Drug Discovery and Development, Harrison School of Pharmacy, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, 36849, USA. Electronic address: dhanamu@auburn.edu.

PMID: 31780035
DOI: 10.1016/j.ctim.2019.102206

Abstract

Morinda citrifolia (Noni) is a popular traditional medicinal plant consumed in various forms in several countries around the world as a complementary and alternative treatment due to its established health benefits. Noni is rich in bioactive substances and has significantly exhibited pro-oxidant and immunomodulatory effects. In this review, we highlight the pharmacological basis related to the phytochemicals and polysaccharides present in Noni and its potential therapeutic effects. We screened electronic databases such as PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus for scientific literature. Our results indicate that Noni is beneficial for various diseases with its crude extracts showing therapeutic benefit for a wide range of pathological diseases. We believe that further pharmacological and toxicological studies in addition to well-designed controlled clinical trials can validate Noni to be an effective and novel natural product for prophylactic and therapeutic use of several diseases.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Drugs, Chinese Herbal / therapeutic use*
Humans
Immune System / drug effects*
Morinda / chemistry*
Plant Extracts / immunology*
Plant Extracts / therapeutic use*
Polynesia

Substances

Drugs, Chinese Herbal
Plant Extracts