CP is even a more interesting plant than it looks at first glance. Leaving a couple more research papers.
ANTI-INFLAMMATORY ACTIVITY OF CELASTRUS PANICULATUS SEEDS
Sudha Parimala1, Gh. Shashidhar, Ch.Sridevi, V.Jyothi and R.Suthakaran
Abstract: Celastrus paniculatus is a large climbing unarmed shrub with long slender elongating branches which are reddish brown and covered with white venticels.Seed oil has bitter taste and useful in abdominal disorder, beri-beri and sores.
But so far no report is available regarding anti-inflammatory activity of the seeds. Celastrine and paniculatine are the two alkaloids present in the seeds. The seeds were shade dried, powdered and subjected to extraction with alcohol and methanol using Soxhlet apparatus. Therefore the following study was performed to evaluate scientifically the anti-inflammatory activity by carrageenan induced hind paw odema method on the albino rats and compared with diclofenac sodium as reference and it shows signifigant anti-inflammatory activity.
Reversal of Scopolamine-Induced Deficits in Navigational Memory Performance by the Seed Oil of Celastrus paniculatus
MAHANANDEESHWAR GATTU, KENNETH L. BOSS, ALVIN V. TERRY, JR. AND JERRY J. BUCCAFUSCO
Introduction: TRADITIONAL or folk medicines have been widely employed for centuries, and they remain one important source for the discovery of new bio-active compounds. Ayurveda, an ancient traditional system of medicine that has been practiced in India since 200 B.C. employs a large number of medicinal plants used in the prevention and treatment of a wide number of diseases. One of these includes the plant Celastrus paniculatus Willd. (CP), a plant known for centuries as “the elixir of life”. According to Ayurveda, depending upon the dose regimen, CP may be employed as a stimulant-nerve tonic, rejuvenant, sedative, tranquilizer and diuretic. It is also used in the treatment of leprosy, leucoderma, rheumatism, gout, paralysis and asthma. Most of the claims for this plant have not been substantiated in rigorous scientific settings. This includes the purported property of CP germane to this study—its ability to stimulate the intellect and sharpen the memory. There have been pharmacological studies to suggest that the oil obtained from the seeds of CP possess sedative and anticonvulsant properties (15,17). Sheath and coworkers (33) isolated an active fraction of the oil that they termed Mal-IIIA, and suggested that this component exhibits the sedative and tranquilizing effects observed in rats and mice.
Sporadic reports in the scientific literature also exist to suggest that the neet oil of CP or its extracts exhibit the following pharmacological actions: anti-viral (7), anti-bacterial ( 28 ), analgesic (2), anti-inflammatory (2,11), anti-malarial (5), anti-fatigue (19), anti-spermatogenic (36), insecticidal (4), hypolipemic (22), and, potentiation of barbiturate sleeping time (3). The indigenous peoples that employ CP also know this preparation as a general cognitive enhancing agent. Several reports are now available to support this later notion in the laboratory setting. Karanth and coworkers (20), and Nalini and coworkers (26), reported that rats treated with CP improved their performance in raised platform shock-avoidance paradigm and two-way passive avoidance paradigm, respectively. Nalini and coworkers (25) reported that chronic treatment with CP oil produced improvement in I.Q. scores and decreased the content of catecholamine metabolites, vanilylmandelic acid and homovanillic acid in the urine of mentally retarded children. (...)