Critical review on pharmacological properties of Brahmi

Abstract

Water hyssop and "Brahmi" are two words used for Bacopa monneri in the traditional system of medicine. Traditionally, it was used as a brain tonic to enhance learning & memory, and to provide relief in anxiety or epileptic disorders. The plant has also been used as a cardiac tonic, digestive aid and to improve respiratory function in cases of bronchoconstriction.Brahmi contains bacoside A & B, Brahmin as main alkaloid and others are nicotine, herpestine. Bacoside A, B are the major constituents present in Brahmi plant in the form of saponins other than this D- mannitol, hersaponin and potassium salts are also present. In this review we discuss primarily on pharmacological properties, chemical constituents and scientific researches supporting the not only traditional use of Ayurvedic claims regarding Brahmi plant but also other physiological conditions such as anti-inflammatory, cardio tonic and other pharmacological effects of BM preparations/extract

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International Journal of Ayurvedic Medicine, 2013, 4(2), 92-99
92
Critical review on pharmacological properties of Brahmi
Review article
Yadav Kapil Deo1*, Reddy KRC2
1. Service Senior Resident, 2. Associate Professor,
Department of Rasa Shastra, Faculty of Ayurveda IMS, BHU, Varanasi.
Abstract
Water hyssop and “Brahmi” are two words used for Bacopa monneri in the traditional
system of medicine. Traditionally, it was used as a brain tonic to enhance learning &
memory, and to provide relief in anxiety or epileptic disorders. The plant has also been used
as a cardiac tonic, digestive aid and to improve respiratory function in cases of
bronchoconstriction. Brahmi contains bacoside A & B, Brahmin as main alkaloid and others
are nicotine, herpestine. Bacoside A, B are the major constituents present in Brahmi plant in
the form of saponins other than this D- mannitol, hersaponin and potassium salts are also
present. In this review we discuss primarily on pharmacological properties, chemical
constituents and scientific researches supporting the not only traditional use of Ayurvedic
claims regarding Brahmi plant but also other physiological conditions such as anti-
inflammatory, cardio tonic and other pharmacological effects of BM preparations/extracts.
Key Words: Brahmi, Pharmacological properties, Chemical constituents
Introduction
Brahmi is derived from word
“Brahma” the mythical creator of Hindu
pantheon and brain is the centre of creative
activity in human body, those compounds
that improve brain health is called Brahmi.
The first clear reference of Brahmi
regarding augmentation of memory is
found in Charak Samhita (1), where
Brahmi is prescribed as a cure for mental
disorder (retardation) leading to insanity.
The aetiology of the mental disorder
according to Charak is a combination of
anxiety, weak intellect and lack of
concentration. Another authentic Ayurveda
treatise i.e. Susruta Samhita has described
Brahmi as efficacious in loss of intellect
and memory. It is classified as a “Medhya
Rasayan” drugs used to improve memory
and intellect (Medhya), has been used by
Ayurvedic medical practitioners in India
for almost 3000 years. Plants have been
used in different formulations which are
used in various disorders in traditional
system of medicine and researchers
supports that some natural compound
present in it act as Nootropic activity (2).
Active ingredients of Brahmi known as
bacosides, which are responsible for
improving memory, related disorders, and
enhance efficiency of transmission of
nerve impulse there by strengthening
memory and cognition (3).The increasing
demand of herbal medicine in recent years
is observed which may be due to lesser
side effect in comparison to recent
synthetics drugs. To overcome this
solution pharmaceutical industry develops
in vitro system for production of medicinal
plants and their extracts (4).
*Corresponding Author:
Yadav Kapil Deo
Service Senior Resident,
Department of Rasa Shastra,
Faculty of Ayurveda IMS,
BHU, Varanasi.
Email: k.d.yadav1983@gmail.com

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Description of Plants
Bacopa monneri, a member of the
Scrophulariaceae family, is a small,
creeping herb with numerous branches,
small oblong leaves, and light purple
flowers. In India and the tropics, it grows
naturally in wet soil, shallow water, and
marshes. It is also found in Nepal,
Srilanka, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Florida
and Southern states of USA. It is widely
distributed in warmer parts of Asia,
Australia, America and India commonly
known as Brahmi or Indian water hyssop
has been investigated (5). The herb can be
found at elevations from sea level to
altitudes of 4,400 feet, and is easily
cultivated if adequate water is available.
Flowers and fruit appear in summer and
the entire plant is used for medicinal
purpose (6).
Ethnopharmacology:
It is astringent, bitter, having
cooling properties and is reported to
improve the intellect. It is widely used for
the treatment of asthma, hoarseness,
dermatitis, anaemia, diabetes, cardiac
disorders, insanity, and epilepsy. It is also
used in boils as blood purifier, used in
cataract complaints. Whole plant is used
for medicinal purpose like juice of the
leaves for relief in bronchitis and diarrhoea
given to children, paste of the leaves is
used as a remedy for rheumatism, leaves
and tender stalks are reported to be eaten
in the west Bengal and decoction of leaves
is used in cough disorders. It is also
observed that it is safe cardiac tonic, gives
relief to patients from anxiety neurosis if
given with ginger juice, sugar and bark
extracts of Moringa oleifera. It was
reported as a potent antioxidant and
bronco-vasodilator.
Phytochemistry:
In view of the importance of this
plant in the indigenous system of
medicine, systematic chemical
examinations of the plant have been
carried out by several groups of
researchers. Detailed investigations were
first documented in 1931, when Bose and
Bose reported the isolation of the alkaloid
"Brahmin" from Bacopa monneri (BM)
and other alkaloids like nicotine and
herpestine have also been reported later
(7). It was found highly toxic, when
administered at a dose of 0.5 mg/kg body
weight of cat, it produces a fall in the
blood pressure. In therapeutic doses it
action resembles with action of strychnine
chemical. The isolation of D-mannitol,
saponins, hersaponin and potassium salts
by Sastri provided further details of the
chemical components of BM (8). The
major chemical entity shown to be
responsible for the memory-facilitating
action of BM, Bacoside A, was assigned as
3-((alpha)-L-arabinopyranosyl)-O-(beta)-
D-glucopyranoside-10, 20-dihydroxy-16-
keto-dammar-24-ene (9). It usually co-
occurs with Bacoside B, the latter differ to
each other only in optical (10). Bacosides
A and B possess haemolytic activity. On
acid hydrolysis, Bacosides yield a mixture
of aglycones, bacogenin (11), and two
genuine sapogenins, jujubogenin and
pseudojujubogenin (12). In addition, same
authors isolated three new saponins from
BM, designated as bacopasides III, IV and
V (13). Moreover, three new
phenylethnoid glycosides, viz.
monnerisides I-III along with the known
analogue plantainoside B have been
isolated from the glycoside fraction of BM
(14). Analysis of the leaves and stalks
exposed, moisture 88.4; protein 2.1: fat
0.6; carbohydrates 5.9; crude fibre 1.05;
ash 1.9 g / 100gm, calcium 202.0;
phosphorus 16.0; iron 7.8; ascorbic acid
63.0; nicotinic acid 0.3 mg /100 g; and
energy 38 cal / 100 g. The leaves contain a
sterol C 26 H 46 O .H2O, m p 76 0) (15).
Pharmacological Properties:
Anti Asthmatic Activity:
BM extract possessed
relaxant properties in tracheal muscle of
rabbit and guinea-pigs with a partial
contribution by (beta)-adrenoreceptor and

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prostaglandins (16). It also
produced bronco dilation in anaesthetized
rats (17) supported the traditional use of
this plant in for various respiratory
ailments (18). Bronchodilator property of
extract may be reflected by antagonism of
carbachol-induced effects
on inspiratory and expiratory pressures.
Extract exhibited a dual action on
bronchoconstriction induced by carbachol.
At low doses (25 and 37 mg/kg),
predominantly inhibited inspiratory
pressure, but at a high dose (50 mg/kg)
inhibited only expiratory pressure. This
property of the plant extract implies that
more than one mechanism of action may
be responsible for bronco-dilation. Some
of the possible mechanisms include (beta)-
adrenoreceptor activation, muscarinic
receptor antagonism, prostaglandin release
or interference with calcium mobilization.
A more recent study by the same authors
demonstrates the calcium antagonistic
activity is present in ethanol extract of BM
(19). In addition, it has been reported that
BM methanolic extract exhibited a
potent mast cell stabilizer, indicating the
potential usefulness of BM leaves in
allergic conditions (20).
Anti cancer activity:
Pre treatment with BM
significantly reduced the acute stress (AS)-
induced increase in the ulcer index,
adrenal gland weight, plasma glucose,
aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and
creatine kinase (CK) (21) in cancerous
patients. This was due to presence of
Bacosides present in BM, which have
anticancer activity. Methanolic extract
exhibited potent mast cell stabilizer (22)
activity. Bacopa monneri is a known hyper
accumulator of cadmium, chromium, lead
& mercury and used for phytoremedy (23).
Anticonvulsive
Bacopa has been indicated as a
remedy for epilepsy in Ayurvedic
medicine and animal research showed
anticonvulsant activity present in it, only at
high doses over extended periods of time.
It have been also reported that crude water
extract of BM controls epilepsy in
experimental animals (24). The naturally it
exhibited sedative effect and significantly
prolonged hypnotic action of
phenobarbitone. Those substances which
stimulate GABA are known to possess
anticonvulsant, pain relieving and sedative
effects (26). It suggests the involvement of
GABA-ergic system in mediation of
central nervous system (25). BM was
evaluated alone and in combination
with phenytoin (PHT) for its effect on PA
task, maximal electroshock seizures and
locomotors activity in mice (27). Both
acquisition and retention of memory
showed improvement without affecting
PHT anti convulsive activity. Further
investigations using BM alone or in
combination with other antiepileptic drugs
are warranted to explore the full potential
of BM in epilepsy.
Antidepressant:
Methanolic extract of BM possess
potential antidepressant activity in rodent.
When given in the dose of 20 and 40
mg/kg, orally for 5 days, the extract was
found to have significant antidepressant
activity in forced swim and learned
helplessness models of depression and was
comparable to that of imipramine (28).
Anti inflammatory:
Bacopa monneri has the ability to
inhibit inflammation through modulation
of pro-inflammatory mediator release (29)
i.e. it possesses significant anti-
inflammatory activity that may well be
relevant to its effectiveness in the healing
of various inflammatory conditions in
traditional medicine (30). It also
significantly inhibited 5-lipoxygenase (5-
LOX), 15-LOX and cyclooxygenase-2
(COX-2) activities (31). This activity may
be due to presence of the triterpenoids and
bacosides in it.

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Anti nociceptive activity:
Aqueous extract of Bacopa
monneri (AEBM) exhibits analgesic
activity through multiple pain pathways
(32) i.e. involvement of β1-adrenergic, α2 -
adrenergic receptors and 5-HT receptors in
analgesic activity. It was also observe that
when AEBM was given in combination
with naloxone did not increase the latency
for analgesic effect, which indicates
involvement of opioid receptors in
analgesic activity.
Antioxidant activity:
Alcoholic and hexane extract of
BM have antioxidant properties (33) by
inhibiting lipid peroxidation. A more
recent study explored antioxidant effect of
BM by other mechanism like inhibition of
superoxide dismutase
(SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione
peroxidise (GPX) activities (34). It was
also observed that the hydro alcoholic
extract of the whole BM plant exhibited an
inhibitory effect on superoxide released
from polymorphonuclear cells in nitro
blue assay (35). Sumathy et al. (2001)
investigated hepato protective activity of
alcoholic extract BM on morphine-treated
rats (36). It may be due to decreased brain
mitochondrial enzyme activity in rats (37).
Methanolic extract BM is able to directly
inhibit the superoxide anion formation in a
dose-dependent manner due to this it
reduces concentrations of nitric oxide
(NO), generated (enzymatic and non-
enzymatic) by activated astrocytes, might
be involved in a variety of
neurodegenerative diseases, such as AD,
ischemia and epilepsy(38, 39).
Anti stress Activity:
Standardized extract of BM
possesses an adaptogenic activity. Pre
treatment with low dose of BM extract
significantly reversed changes in ulcer
index and plasma AST only, whereas the
pre treatment with higher dose
significantly reversed changes in ulcer
index, adrenal gland weight, CK, and AST
(40).
Anti Spasmodic Activity:
BM extract have
spasmolytic activity in smooth muscles
due to inhibition of calcium influx via both
voltage and receptor-operated calcium
channels of the cell membrane. (41)
However, the absence of any modification
of either nor-adrenaline or caffeine-
induced contractions in the presence of
BM extract suggests that this natural
compound has no detectable effect on
mobilization of intracellular calcium.
Anxiolytic effect:
The higher doses of BM extract
produced significantly greater anxiolytic
effects compared to LZP (42). However,
BM has a distinct advantage over
lorazepam (LZP) since it does not induce
amnesia and has a memory-promoting
action in animals and man (43, 44). These
results was also observed by Shanker and
Singh and reported that BM extract
possessed an anxiolytic effect (45).
Cardiovascular activity:
Ethanolic extract of BM, shown
cardiac depressive activity on left
ventricular contractility, heart rate and
coronary flow in isolated rabbit heart (46).
It also demonstrated that protective effect
of BM on pulmonary artery and aorta (47).
Gastroprotective activity:
The anti-ulcer and ulcer-healing
activities of the Bacopa monneri extract
may be due to its effects on various
mucosal offensive and defensive factors
(48). It also have beneficial role in
intestinal spasm such as irritable bowel
syndrome (49). It may be due to
spasmolytic activity on intestinal smooth
muscle, via inhibition of calcium influx
across cell membrane channels. Fresh BM
juice (BMJ) and BM extract has been
reported to have significant anti
ulcerogenic activity (50, 51, 52). Ulcer

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protective effect of BMJ may be due to its
effect on mucosal defensive factors such as
enhanced mucin secretion, mucosal
glycoprotein and decreased cell shedding,
rather than on offensive factors such as
acid and pepsin.
Hepatoprotective activity:
It was found that pre treatment with
BM extract has shown to possess a
significant protective effect against
morphine-induced liver and kidney
functions in terms of serum glutamate
oxaloacetate transaminase, serum
glutamate pyruvate transaminase, alkaline
phosphatase, lactate dehydrogenases and
gamma-glutamyl transferase activities and
urea, creatinine and uric acid level
respectively (53). Pre treatment of
Bacoside A also prevents the elevation of
LPO (Lipid Peroxidise) and activity of
serum marker enzymes and maintains the
antioxidant system and thus protects the
rats from Diethyl nitrosamine-induced
hepatic toxicity (54).
Learning and memory:
Plant extracts and isolated
Bacosides have been extensively
investigated in several laboratories for
their neuro pharmacological effects and
number of reports are available confirming
their Nootropic action. Preliminary studies
established that treatment with plant (55)
or alcoholic extract of BM plant (56)
enhanced learning ability in rats.
Subsequent studies indicated that the
cognition-facilitating effect was due to
presence of Bacosides A and B, in ethanol
extract (43). These active principles, apart
from facilitating learning and memory in
normal rats, inhibited the amnesic effects
of scopolamine, electroshock and immobili
zation stress (44). The mechanism of these
pharmacological actions remains
conjectural. It has been suggested that
bacosides induce membrane
dephosphorylation, with concomitant
increase in protein and RNA turnover in
specific brain areas (57). BM has been
shown to enhance protein kinase activity in
hippocampus which could also contribute
to its nootropic action (58). Administration
of BM for two weeks, also reversed the
depletion of acetylcholine, the reduction in
acetyl cholinesterase activity and the
decrease in muscarinic cholinergic
receptor binding in the frontal cortex and
hippocampus, induced by neurotoxin,
colchicines (59). It has been suggested that
the behavioural effects of cholinergic
degeneration can be alleviated by a
reduction in noradrenergic function (60).
BM is known to lower nor epinephrine and
increase 5-hydroxytryptamine levels in the
hippocampus, hypothalamus and cerebral
cortex (58), thus BM indirectly, modify
Ach concentrations.
Dosage:
Traditional daily doses of Bacopa
was 5- 10 gm of non-standardized powder,
8-16 ml of infusion, and 30 ml daily of
syrup (Brahmi). Dosages of 1:2 fluid
extract are 5-12 ml per day for adults and
2.5-6 ml per day for children ages 6-12
years. For Bacopa extracts standardized to
20-percent Bacosides A and B, dosage is
200-400 mg daily in divided doses for
adults, and for children, 100-200 mg daily
in divided doses.
Conclusion:
Bacopa monneri, traditional
Ayurvedic medicinal plant has been used
for centuries as a memory-enhancing, anti-
inflammatory, analgesic, antipyretic,
sedative, and antiepileptic agent. More
recently, preclinical studies and clinical
studies supported the cognitive enhancing
effects with various extracts of BM, but
the exact mechanism of its actions is still
uncertain, as its multiple active
constituents make its pharmacology
complex. It has been suggested that BM,
like Ginkgo biloba, exhibits protective and
cognitive enhancing effects, to modulate
the cholinergic system and to contrast
oxidative stress. .

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