AZTEC ROOT AND ITS USE IN METABOLIC DISORDERS Book in Scopus uri icon

abstract

  • © 2020 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc.Aztec root, also known as chilcuague, (Heliopsis longipes) is an herbaceous plant endemic of Sierra de Alvarez and Sierra Gorda, on the states of Queretaro, Guanajuato, and San Luis Potosi (Cilia et al. 2008). This species has been used in traditional medicine for the anesthetic, analgesic, neuroprotective, antioxidant, antimutagenic, anticancer, antiinflammatory, antiarthritic, and antimicrobial activity of its main bioactive compound, affinin. The chilcuague¿s root, that contains the alkamide affinin, has been employed in traditional cuisine as a spice for its pungency. Due to its tingling and numbing properties, the root extract is frequently applied to heal diverse pains such as toothache, earache, and headache (Barbosa et al. 2015, Salgado et al. 2008, Molina-Torres et al. 2004, Cilia 2007, Cárdenas 2005, Juárez et al. 2001, Castro 2009). Within this chapter, its applications as anti-inflammatory, local anesthetic, analgesic, antimutagenic and antioxidant agent, will be reviewed. Chilcuague appears to induce vasodilation by mechanisms that involve gasotransmitters, and prostacyclin signaling pathways, thereby reducing blood insulin levels and inflammatory processes. These dramatic effects were observed with the use of root extract and affinin through in vivo and in vitro experiments. It is shown that H. longipes has an enormous therapeutic potential in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases and can treat diverse metabolic disorders, which indicates great usefulness in the emerging biotechnological approach of the natural alkamides in the clinical area. Its relevance in prehispanic Mexican medicine has placed chilcuague as a well-known aid for these and other health conditions.

publication date

  • January 1, 2020