Picrorhiza kurroa, Royle ex Benth: Traditional uses, phytopharmacology, and translational potential in therapy of fatty liver disease

Picrorhiza kurroa Royle ex Benth, Kutki (P.kurroa) is an important medicinal plant, traditionally recommended and used in Ayurveda for millennia, with certain cautions. There has been a significant revival of keen interest in its pharmacology, pharmacognosy, and phytochemistry for the last few decades. The evidence of its hepatoprotective activity, in experimental and clinical studies, accelerated the correlation of the specific phytochemical constituents of P.kurroa with precise pharmacological activities. Iridoid glycosides, particularly picrosides, emerged as the active molecules. For effective translation of traditional remedies into modern therapy, value addition by mechanistic understanding of molecular actions, drug targets, the degrees of efficacy and safety as well as convenient dosage forms is needed. Reverse pharmacology approach and phytopharmaceutical drug category facilitate such a translation. The present review illustrates how a potential translation of traditional practices of using P.kurroa into a phytochemically standardized, clinically targeted natural product for global unmet medical needs viz. Fatty liver disease can be attained. (c) 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Institute of Transdisciplinary Health Sciences and Technology and World Ayurveda Foundation. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Automated summary

Kutki (P.kurroa) is an important medicinal plant traditionally used in Ayurveda for millennia, and there has been a renewed interest in its pharmacology, pharmacognosy, and phytochemistry. The hepatoprotective activity of P.kurroa has been correlated with specific phytochemical constituents, particularly picrosides. To effectively translate traditional remedies into modern therapy, understanding the molecular actions, drug targets, efficacy, safety, and convenient dosage forms is necessary. This review demonstrates the potential translation of using P.kurroa for fatty liver disease based on phytochemical standardization and clinical targeting.