Written by Dr. Sanjana V.B Bhms,dbrm,cdn

Founder & medical director of siahmsr wellness.in

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Homeopathic research – Lycopodium in inflammatory bowel diseases

   Lycopodium belongs to the family Lycopodiaceae, a plant of tropical and subtropical forests, is also known by other names such as club moss, or devil’s claw or ground pine. The drug is an important component in traditional medicine for renal diseases, rheumatic arthritis, cystitis, and gastritis.

  Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) such as ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD) are diseases of the gastrointestinal system involving genetic and environmental factors attributed to oxidative stress and inflammation.

Inflammatory bowel diseases[ IBD ]

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) denotes two conditions (Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis) that are characterized by chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Prolonged inflammation results in damage to the GI tract.

The symptoms of IBD includes:

l Persistent diarrhea.

l Abdominal pain.

l Rectal bleeding/bloody stools.

l Weight loss.

l Fatigue.

Genetic factors as well as autoimmunity [over active immune system] play crucial role in IBD.

A combination of endoscopy (for Crohn’s disease) or colonoscopy (for ulcerative colitis) and imaging studies, such as:

Contrast radiography.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Computed tomography (CT).

Stool samples.

May help in the diagnosis of IBD.

Blood tests.

Treatment of IBD is based on corticosteroids and immunomodulators. Alternative systems of medicine uses several plants and lycopodium clavatum is one among them.

Study of lycopodium in rats- to identify its role in IBS.

   In an animal study study, the effect of LYCOPODIUM has been investigated in an acetic acid (AA)-induced colitis model in Wistar rats. LYCO was orally administered at the dose of 50 mg/kg/day either 3 days before or 30 min after the induction of IBD and continued for 7 days by intrarectal administration of AA.

The changes in body weight and macroscopic and microscopic analysis of the colon of rats of different experimental groups were observed on days 0, 2, 4, and 7. The levels of myeloperoxidase (MPO), reduced glutathione (GSH), and malondialdehyde (MDA) were measured. AA caused a significant reduction in body weight and increased macroscopic and microscopic ulcer scores along with a significant decline in antioxidant enzymes, superoxide dismutase (SOD), and catalase and antioxidant substrate, glutathione (GSH). There was a concomitant increased formation of malondialdehyde (MDA), a marker of lipid peroxidation, and raised myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity, a marker of neutrophil activation.

Treatment with LYCO significantly improved IBD-induced reduction in body weight, improved histology, inhibited MDA formation, and restored antioxidants along with reduced MPO activity. AA also caused the release of proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and interleukin-23 (IL-23). Furthermore, AA also increased the levels of calprotectin, a protein released by neutrophils under inflammatory conditions of the gastrointestinal tract. LYCO treatment significantly reduced the release of calprotectin and proinflammatory cytokines.

The results shows that LYCO treatment has the potential to improve disease activity by inhibiting oxidative stress, lipid peroxidation, and inflammation along with histological preservation of colonic tissues.

   Inflammation is often accompanied by oxidative stress caused by overproduction of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, which have crucial roles in the development of IBD

Although various plants are used in the treatment of intestinal inflammatory diseases, Lycopodium (LYCO) has garnered attention due to its potent multiple properties including immunomodulation. LYCO has been demonstrated to possess anticancer, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties [1,2,3].

References

1. Pathak S., Das J.K., Biswas S.J., Khuda-Bukhsh A.R. Protective potentials of a potentized homeopathic drug, Lycopodium-30, in ameliorating azo dye induced hepatocarcinogenesis in mice. Mol. Cell. Biochem. 2006;285:121–131. doi: 10.1007/s11010-005-9065-7. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16538399/ 

2.  Paramita P., Subramaniam V.D., Murugesan R., Gopinath M., Ramachandran I., Ramalingam S., Sun X.F., Banerjee A., Marotta F., Pathak S. Evaluation of potential anti-cancer activity of cationic liposomal nanoformulated. IET Nanobiotechnol. 2018;12:727–732. doi: 10.1049/iet-nbt.2017.0106. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30104445/ 

3.  Jayaraj R.L., Beiram R., Azimullah S., Meeran M.F.N., Ojha S.K., Adem A., Jalal F.Y. Lycopodium Attenuates Loss of Dopaminergic Neurons by Suppressing Oxidative Stress and Neuroinflammation in a Rat Model of Parkinson’s Disease. Molecules. 2019;24:2182. doi: 10.3390/molecules24112182. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31185705/ 

4. Lycopodium Mitigates Oxidative Stress and Inflammation in the Colonic Mucosa of Acetic Acid-Induced Colitis in Rats

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9102450/