Centre for Research on Food and Nutrition, Council for Agricultural Research and Economics, 546-00178 Rome, Italy
Tahereh Hosseinabadi
Department of Pharmacognosy and Biotechnology, School of Pharmacy, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 11369, Iran
Monica Butnariu
Banat’s University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine “King Michael I of Romania” from Timisoara, 300645 Calea Aradului 119, Timis, Romania
Ioan Sarac
Banat’s University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine “King Michael I of Romania” from Timisoara, 300645 Calea Aradului 119, Timis, Romania
Cristian Bostan
Banat’s University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine “King Michael I of Romania” from Timisoara, 300645 Calea Aradului 119, Timis, Romania
Krishnendu Acharya
Molecular and Applied Mycology and Plant Pathology Laboratory, Department of Botany, University of Calcutta, Kolkata 700019, India
Surjit Sen
Molecular and Applied Mycology and Plant Pathology Laboratory, Department of Botany, University of Calcutta, Kolkata 700019, India
Kadriye Nur Kasapoglu
Istanbul Technical University, Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering Faculty, Food Engineering Department, Ayazağa Campus, Maslak, 34469 Istanbul, Turkey
Ceren Daşkaya-Dikmen
Istanbul Technical University, Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering Faculty, Food Engineering Department, Ayazağa Campus, Maslak, 34469 Istanbul, Turkey
Beraat Özçelik
Istanbul Technical University, Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering Faculty, Food Engineering Department, Ayazağa Campus, Maslak, 34469 Istanbul, Turkey
Navid Baghalpour
Phytochemistry Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 11369, Iran
Javad Sharifi-Rad
Zabol Medicinal Plants Research Center, Zabol University of Medical Sciences, Zabol 61615-585, Iran
Patrick Valere Tsouh Fokou
Antimicrobial and Biocontrol Agents Unit, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Yaounde 1, Ngoa Ekelle, Annex Fac. Sci, Yaounde 812, Cameroon
William C. Cho
Department of Clinical Oncology, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, 30 Gascoigne Road, Hong Kong, China
Natália Martins
Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Alameda Prof. Hernâni Monteiro, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal
Symphytum species belongs to the Boraginaceae family and have been used for centuries for bone breakages, sprains and rheumatism, liver problems, gastritis, ulcers, skin problems, joint pain and contusions, wounds, gout, hematomas and thrombophlebitis. Considering the innumerable potentialities of the Symphytum species and their widespread use in the world, it is extremely important to provide data compiling the available literature to identify the areas of intense research and the main gaps in order to design future studies. The present review aims at summarizing the main data on the therapeutic indications of the Symphytum species based on the current evidence, also emphasizing data on both the efficacy and adverse effects. The present review was carried out by consulting PubMed (Medline), Web of Science, Embase, Scopus, Cochrane Database, Science Direct and Google Scholar (as a search engine) databases to retrieve the most updated articles on this topic. All articles were carefully analyzed by the authors to assess their strengths and weaknesses, and to select the most useful ones for the purpose of review, prioritizing articles published from 1956 to 2018. The pharmacological effects of the Symphytum species are attributed to several chemical compounds, among them allantoin, phenolic compounds, glycopeptides, polysaccharides and some toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids. Not less important to highlight are the risks associated with its use. In fact, there is increasing consumption of over-the-counter drugs, which when associated with conventional drugs can cause serious and even fatal adverse events. Although clinical trials sustain the folk topical application of Symphytum species in musculoskeletal and blunt injuries, with minor adverse effects, its antimicrobial potency was still poorly investigated. Further studies are needed to assess the antimicrobial spectrum of Symphytum species and to characterize the active molecules both in vitro and in vivo.
