Neem: Neem oil, Larvicidal Activity, Skin Disorders, Antiulcer and Antimalarial activity
Medicinal uses of Neem
Since ancient times, the tree’s entire body has been used for medicinal uses. Due to its therapeutic qualities, it has been utilized in Ayurvedic medicine for over 4,000 years. Early Sanskrit medical texts discuss the advantages of Neem’s fruits, seeds, oil, leaves, roots, and bark. Every one of them has been utilized in Indian Ayurvedic and Unani medicine and is currently utilized in the pharmaceutical and cosmetics businesses.
Benefits of different Neem components
Neem oil: Beneficial for medications, cosmetics, and pest control.
Neem seed cake: Natural fertilizer and insecticide
Neem leaves: Neem leaves have several health benefits, including the ability to treat various foot fungus, prevent termites, boost immunity, reduce malarial fever, and relieve neuromuscular problems.
Neem bark and roots are used to cure a variety of illnesses, including diabetes, AIDS, cancer, heart disease, herpes, allergies, ulcers, hepatitis, and fleas and ticks on pets. They also battle against skin infections like acne, psoriasis, eczema, and scabies.
Health and Personal Care products: Products for oral hygiene, hair care, shampoo, and hair oils, for skin care, eczema cream, antiseptic cream, and nail care; for personal care, loose neem leaves are used to make tea, vegetarian capsules, powders, and candles, and for household items, soaps, insect repellent (spray and lotion), and candles.
Therapeutic uses: The flower and leaf are extracted in hot water, and the internal and external use includes treating wounds and treating hysteria. The dried flower is ingested to treat diabetes. For piles, as well as externally for skin conditions and ulcers, hot water extract of dried fruit is employed. The entire plant is used as an anthelmintic, an insecticide, and a purgative when extracted in hot water. Oral intake of the bark juices of Andrographic puniculata, Azardiracta indica, and Tinospora cardifolia is used as a filariasis treatment. The hot water extract is also used as a tonic, refrigerant, anthelmintic, and treatment for fever and diabetes. To treat a common cold, fruit leaf and root are crushed up, combined with dried ginger, and given orally with lukewarm water as “Triphala.” Due to their insecticidal qualities, leaves are frequently preserved alongside wool and other fabrics. Leucorrhoea and gonorrhoea are treated with leaf juice. The leaves are used as a poultice to treat boils, and the infusion is used as an antiseptic wash to speed wound and ulcer healing. To cure wounds, ringworms, eczema, and ulcers, a leaf paste is applied. Neem leaf baths are helpful for itchiness and other skin conditions. For the treatment of nasal worm infection, leaf juice is utilized as a nasal drop. Bark steam inhalation is effective for throat inflammation. Intermittent fever, overall debility during recovery, and post-fever appetite loss can all be treated with the decoction. In cases of dyspepsia and overall weakness, the floral infusion is used. The toothbrush made from the tree’s delicate twigs is said to keep the body system in good shape and the mouth and breath fresh and flavorful. Leprosy, syphilis, eczema, and chronic ulcers are treated with seed oil.
Larvicidal Activity: Lab-raised larvae were exposed to 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 ppm concentrations of the extracts of Azadirachta indica A Juss, Gymnema Sylvestre, Nerium indicum mill, and Datura metel L., respectively, in the zoology research laboratory of D.A-V Degree College, Kanpur, India, to test the larvicidal activity of four plant aqueous extracts. The Azadirachta indica caused between 70 and 99 percent of the mortality in the larvae, followed by G. Sylvestre, 44 to 89 percent, N. indicum, 41 to 74 percent, and D. metel, which caused between 19 and 54 percent of the mortality. The control of Culex larvae was shown to be greatly aided by the extracts of A. indica and G. sylvestre.
Antibacterial Activity: The cup plate agar diffusion method was used to test the petroleum ether, methanol, and aqueous extracts of Azadirachta indica (Meliaceae) leaves, Allium cepa (Liliaceae) bulbs, and Aloe vera (Liliaceae) gel for their anti-microbial activity. They were examined for their ability to resist two Grampositive (Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus) and four Gram-negative (Bacillus spp.) bacteria out of a total of six tested (Escherichia coli, Proteus vulgaris, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Salmonella typhi). The germs’ susceptibility to these plant extracts was compared to that of the microorganisms themselves and several antibiotics. Against Bacillus subtilis, Azadirachta indica’s methanol extract displayed strong action (28 mm).
Antidiabetic evaluation: In Diabetic rats, Azadirachta indica’s potential for pharmacological hypoglycemia was investigated. Azadirachta indica 250 mg/kg (single dosage trial) lowered glucose (18%), cholesterol (15%), triglycerides (32%), urea (13%), creatinine (23%) and lipids after 24 hours of treatment (15 percent ). Creatinine, urea, lipids, triglycerides, glucose, and a 15-day multiple-dose trial all decreased. Neem extract at a dose of 250 mg/kg reduced glucose levels in diabetic rats’ blood substantially more than the control group in a glucose tolerance test. On the 15th day, diabetic rats receiving Azadirachta indica experienced considerably lower glucose levels.
Antioxidant: Young flower and leaf extracts are highly effective antioxidant sources. Malondialdehyde (MDA), a sign of oxidative stress, was reduced by 46.0% and 50.6% for flower- and leaf-based extracts, respectively, leading to the suggestion to employ neem as a vegetable bitter tonic to support good health.
Skin Disorders: Numerous skin conditions, such as scabies and lice, can be treated with neem. Neem was used to treat scabies in 814 patients; 97% of them were healed after 3 to 15 days of application, and no side effects were noted.
Antiulcer: Human gastric acid hypersecretion, gastro-esophageal ulcers, and gastroduodenal ulcers were all decreased by neem bark extract. The duodenal ulcers were almost completely cured after 10 weeks, while one case of esophageal and stomach ulcers was completely healed after 6 weeks.
Antimalarial activity: Mice that were infected with Plasmodium yoelli nigeriensis were used to test the antimalarial effects of Azadirachta indica bark and leaf tablet suspension. The schizonticidal effects of the tablet suspensions were mostly preventive, moderately suppressive, and barely curative. In chemosuppression, the tablet suspensions of the leaf, bark, and chloroquine at concentrations of 800 mg/kg, 62.5 mg/kg body weight, and correspondingly, caused average percentages (percentages) of parasitaemia of 79.6 percent, 68.2 percent, and 99.5 percent. In addition, the prophylactic treatment resulted in an average reduction in parasitaemia of 75.3%, 65.6%, and 98.3% for the leaf, bark, and pyrimethamine, respectively, when tablet suspensions at 800 mg/kg and pyrimethamine at a dosage of 0.35 mg/kg were used. There was unmistakable evidence of a moderately positive effect.
Anti-tumor Effect: By regressing the hepatocarcinogenesis caused by diethylnitrosamine (DEN)/2 acetylaminofluorene (AAF) carcinogens on Spraque-Dawly rats, a study on Azadirachta indica indicated a chemopreventive capability.
Antifertility Effect: Oral administration of neem and seed extracts at the start of the post-implantation stage caused pregnancy termination in rodents and primates without any long-term consequences. Not all of the action’s mechanism is known. A polyherbal vaginal tablet called Praneem (licensed to Panacea Biotec, India) is effective at immobilizing sperm.
Anti-Dental Caries: When compared to the control group, which used commercial mouthwash containing the germicide chlorhexidine gluconate (0.2 percent w/v), a neem-extract dental gel dramatically reduced plaque and bacteria (Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacilli species were examined). Neem reversed incipient carious lesions and prevented the tooth decay-causing Streptococcus mutans bacteria, according to preliminary research (that is, primary dental caries).
Antihypertensive and Antihypercholesteremic Effect: Neem aqueous extract and DOCA salt were given to rats to stop the development of hypertension. Rats receiving the mature leaf extract had significantly lower serum cholesterol levels while maintaining the same levels of protein, protein urea, and uric acid.