Tinospora cordifolia
{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}
{{speciesbox
|image = Tinospora cordifolia.jpg
|genus = Tinospora
|species = cordifolia
|authority = (Thunb.) Miers
}}
Tinospora cordifolia, the heart-leaved moonseed,{{cite web |url=https://www.drugs.com/npp/tinospora.html|title=Tinospora |accessdate=13 February 2023|publisher=Drugs.com|date=12 February 2024}} is a herbaceous vine of the family Menispermaceae native to South and Southeast Asia. It has been used in Ayurveda to treat various disorders.
Botanical description
File:Tinospora cordifolia fruits.jpg
It is a large, deciduous, extensively-spreading, climbing vine with several elongated twining branches. Leaves are simple, alternate, and exstipulate with long petioles up to {{convert|15|cm|in|0|abbr=on}} long which are roundish and pulvinate, both at the base and apex with the basal one longer and twisted partially and half way around. It gets its name heart-leaved moonseed by its heart-shaped leaves and its reddish fruit. Lamina are broadly ovate or ovate cordate, {{convert|10–20|cm|in|0|abbr=on}} long or {{convert|8-15|cm|in|0|abbr=on}} broad, seven nerved and deeply cordate at base, membranous, pubescent above, whitish tomentose with a prominent reticulum beneath.
Flowers are unisexual, small on separate plants and appearing when the plant is leafless, greenish-yellow on axillary and terminal racemes. Male flowers are clustered, but female flowers are usually solitary. It has six sepals in two series of three each. The outer ones are smaller than the inner. It has six petals which are smaller than sepals, obovate, and membranous. Fruits aggregate in clusters of one to three. They are ovoid smooth drupelets on thick stalks with sub terminal style scars, scarlet or orange colored.{{cite journal |first1=Kirti |last1=Sinha |first2=N P |last2=Mishra |first3=J |last3=Singh |first4=S P S |last4=Khanuja |date=July 2004 |title=Tinospora cordifolia (Guduchi), a reservoir plant for therapeutic applications: A Review |journal=Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=257–70 |url=http://www.niscair.res.in/sciencecommunication/researchjournals/rejour/ijtk/fulltextsearch/2004/july%202004/tinospora%20cordifolia%20(guduchi)%20a%20reservoir%20plant%20for%20therapeutic%20applications%20a%20review.htm }}
Ecology
Endophytic fungi colonize the living, internal tissues of their host without causing any harmful effects. A recent study has shown that 29 endophytes belonging to different taxa were present in the samples collected from Tinospora cordifolia.{{cite journal|last1=Mishra|first1=Ashish|last2=Gond|first2=Surendra K.|last3=Kumar|first3=Anuj|last4=Sharma|first4=Vijay K.|last5=Verma|first5=Satish K.|last6=Kharwar|first6=Ravindra N.|last7=Sieber|first7=Thomas N.|year=2012|title=Season and Tissue Type Affect Fungal Endophyte Communities of the Indian Medicinal Plant Tinospora cordifolia More Strongly than Geographic Location|journal=Microbial Ecology|volume=64|issue=2|pages=388–98|doi=10.1007/s00248-012-0029-7|pmid=22430503|s2cid=10738815}}
Phytochemicals
Tinospora cordifolia contains diverse phytochemicals, including alkaloids, phytosterols, glycosides, tinosporide, and various other phytochemicals.{{cite journal | pmid = 2610955 | year = 1989 | last1 = Swaminathan | first1 = K. | last2 = Sinha | first2 = U. C. | last3 = Bhatt | first3 = R. K. | last4 = Sabata | first4 = B. K. | last5 = Tavale | first5 = S. S. | title = Structure of tinosporide, a diterpenoid furanolactone from Tinospora cordifolia Miers | journal = Acta Crystallographica Section C | volume = 45 ( Pt 1) | pages = 134–136 | doi = 10.1107/s0108270188009953 }}
Traditional medicine
Although used in Ayurveda over centuries in the belief that Tinospora has medicinal properties,{{cite journal | doi=10.2174/1389201021666200430114547 | title=Tinospora cordifolia (giloy): Phytochemistry, Ethnopharmacology, Clinical Application and Conservation Strategies | year=2020 | last1=Kumar | first1=Pradeep | last2=Kamle | first2=Madhu | last3=Mahato | first3=Dipendra K. | last4=Bora | first4=Himashree | last5=Sharma | first5=Bharti | last6=Rasane | first6=Prasad | last7=Bajpai | first7=Vivek K. | journal=Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology | volume=21 | issue=12 | pages=1165–1175 | pmid=32351180 | s2cid=217593876 }} there is no evidence from reviews of clinical research to indicate that it has any effect.
During the 2020–22 COVID-19 outbreak in India, the Ministry of AYUSH recommended use of T. cordifolia ("giloy") as a home remedy for immune support,{{cite web|author=Banjot Kaur|url=https://science.thewire.in/health/india-silent-outbreak-giloy-induced-livery-injury-ayurveda-ayush/ |title=As COVID Surged, India Had a Silent Outbreak of Giloy-Induced Liver Injury |date=17 February 2022|publisher=Science: The Wire}} but such a practice appeared to be associated with hepatitis cases among six people in Mumbai who used boiled or capsule preparations of the plant.{{cite journal|display-authors=3 | last1=Nagral | first1=Aabha | last2=Adhyaru | first2=Kunal | last3=Rudra | first3=Omkar S. | last4=Gharat | first4=Amit | last5=Bhandare | first5=Sonal | title=Herbal Immune Booster-Induced Liver Injury in the COVID-19 Pandemic – A Case Series | journal=Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hepatology | volume=11 | issue=6 | date=2021-07-02 | issn=0973-6883 | pmid=34230786 | pmc=8252698 | doi=10.1016/j.jceh.2021.06.021 | pages=732–738}}{{cite news |last=Ray |first=Kalyan |url=https://www.deccanherald.com/national/ayurvedic-drug-backed-by-ayush-ministry-causes-liver-damage-says-study-1088604.html |title=Ayurvedic drug backed by AYUSH Ministry causes liver damage, says study |date=6 March 2022 |work=Deccan Herald |publisher=The Printers, Mysore}}{{cite journal|display-authors=3 |last1=Kulkarni |first1=Anand V. |last2=Hanchanale |first2=Pavan |last3=Prakash |first3=Vikash |last4=Kalal |first4=Chetan |last5=Sharma |first5=Mithun |last6=Kumar |first6=Karan |last7=Bishnu |first7=Saptarshi |last8=Kulkarni |first8=Aditya V. |last9=Anand |first9=Lovkesh |last10=Patwa |first10=Ajay Kumar |last11=Kumbar |first11=Sandeep |last12=Kainth |first12=Sumeet |last13=Philips |first13=Cyriac Abby |title=Tinospora cordifolia ( giloy)–induced liver injury during the COVID‐19 pandemic — Multicenter nationwide study from India |journal=Hepatology Communications |date=6 February 2022 |volume=6 |issue=6 |pages=1289–1300 |doi=10.1002/hep4.1904|pmid=35037744 |pmc=9134809 }}