MEDICINAL PLANTS IN NIGERIA EMPLOYED AS TRADITIONAL OXYTOCICS. AN UPDATED REVIEW

MEDICINAL PLANTS IN NIGERIA EMPLOYED AS TRADITIONAL OXYTOCICS. AN UPDATED REVIEW 

A. A. Gbolade

Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Lead City University, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria.

ABSTRACT: This review examines research activities into oxytocic plants in Nigeria in the past 44 years (1982 2026) which focused on pregnant and non-pregnant female rats (73.07%), human (15.38%) and guinea pig (7.69%). According to publications, research activity was minimal (3.70%) during 1982-1991 period, but rose sharply to peak at 48.15% in 2012-2021. From various oxytocic research reports, 52 scientifically-proven medicinal plants in 36 families predominated by Apocynaceae (8.33%) and Fabaceae (6.25%) were identified. Leaf (47.06%) and stem (21.56%) top the list of frequently researched morphological parts, followed by fruit (11.76%), root (9.80%), whole herb (5.88%) and seed (3.92%). Apart from uterotonic activity (83.05%) of plant extracts which formed the focus of this review, tocolytic action has also been documented for eleven plant extracts (16.95%). Studies involving potentiation of effect of agonists were few (7.02%) and were exemplified by Vitex doniana stem bark, Spondias mombin leaf, Piper guineense leaf and seed, Opuntia ficus-indica stem and Musanga cecropioides stem bark. In this review, Spondias mombin, Xylopia aethiopica, Ocimum gratissimum and Vernonia amygdalina were the most investigated oxytocic plants. Inhibition of contractile effect of extracts on rat uterus by atropine or salbutamol was documented in few researched cases (11.36%), for example Phoenix dactylifera fruit, Hunteria umbellata fruit and Globimetula braunii leaf. Full characterization of bioactive compounds was limited to five (9.80%) of the documented plants for example Ficus exasperata leaf, Sida acuta leaf and Monechma ciliatum leaf. This review has documented efficacious oxytocic plants growing in Nigeria and emphasized the need for isolation of their bioactive compounds for future clinical trials.

Keywords: Oxytocic activity, Nigeria, Leaf, Apocynaceae, Spondias mombin, Ocimum gratissimum, Xylopia aethiopica, Vernonia amygdalina

INTRODUCTION: Oxytocics are natural products or chemical entities used to induce and maintain labour, remove the retained placenta, regulate post-partum bleeding and as abortifacient. They increase the spontaneous activity of the uterus causing increase in contractions ^{1, 2}. Medicinal plants used to speed birth are usually taken towards the end of gestation period or at the on-set of labour pains.

Plants that produce uterine contractions have similar action as that of oxytocin hormone, produced on the posterior lobule of the hypophysis, which stimulates the uterus, experience strong contractions, thus producing labour ¹.

From literature, several studies have documented numerous medicinal plants employed by rural populations in Africa to facilitate childbirth. Examples include those of Uganda ³, Democratic Republic of Congo ⁴, Tanzania ⁵, Cameroon ⁶, Côte d'Ivoire ⁷ and Ghana ⁸. However, in Nigeria, few ethnobotanical surveys involving pregnant women and traditional birth attendants in the north (Katsina State) which listed 16 plant species ⁹ and in Bayelsa State in the south-south where labour induction rank third with 35 species (16% of the plants used in family planning programme) ¹⁰ are known. Furthermore, Attah et al. ¹¹ reported contractile effects for nine plants including Commelina africana, Sida corymbosa, Vernonia amygdalina, and Ocimum gratissimum in a combined ethnobotanical survey in Sokoto State, Abuja (northern Nigeria) and Edo State in the south-south. A polyherbal preparation in the Southeast Nigeria comprising one uterotonic plant, Uvaria chamae and five tocolytic plants (Barteria fistulosa, Napoleonaea vogelii, Spondias mombin, Euphorbia convolvuloides and Ceiba pentandra) was identified ¹².

The need to update the traditional African herbal pharmacopoeia with scientifically-proven medicinal plants used in labour induction during childbirth as part of the family planning programme in Nigeria forms the basis of this review.

METHODS: In the course of this work, an extensive literature search was performed using platforms such as PubMed central, Google and Google Scholar. The search terms used were “oxytocic activity”, “labour-inducing plants”, “uterotonic activity”, “contractile activity”, “uterine contractile”, “bioactive compounds”, “ethnobotanical survey”, “ethnographic studies” and “Nigerian plants”. Focus was solely on reports in English. In addition, information on in-vitro studies published in original articles, peer-reviewed journals, books were included in the review.

RESULTS AND DISUSSION:

Distribution and Oxytocic Activities of Nigerian Folklore: A review of publications on medicinal plants used in the traditional induction of labour in pregnant women conducted in Nigeria between 1982 and 2026 revealed 52 plant species distributed within 50 genera and 36 families Table 1. The predominant families were Apocynaceae (8.33%) and Fabaceae (6.25%), followed by eight less prominent families such as Anacardiaceae, Rubiaceae, Lauraceae, Malvaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Acanthaceae, Lamiaceae and Asteraceae in equal ranking of 4.16%. By comparison, Fabaceae and Euphorbiaceae in Cote d’Ivoire ⁷, Fabaceae in Democratic Republic of Congo ⁴, Asteraceae and Malvaceae in Cameroon ⁶, were the top ranking families in other African countries. The similarity in families of Nigerian oxytocic plants with those of other countries is because tropical plants grow commonly in sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, twenty five least popular families accounted for 52.08% of the distribution. From this review, apart from Euphorbia and Sida, every other genus was represented by one plant species. Furthermore, the frequently researched morphological parts were leaf (47.06%), stem (21.56%) and fruit (11.76%) Fig. 1 probably because of ease of collection. Thus, Nigerian traditional oxytocics appear to have similar dominant morphological part with those of other African countries ^{3, 4, 5, 7, 8}. In this current review, root bark (9.80%), whole herb (5.88%) and seed (3.92%) were uncommonly investigated. In view of the large number of plant species with proven oxytocic action in Nigeria, there may be need to undertake further ethnobotanical surveys to discover more traditional labour-inducing plants for pharmacological studies. Large number of oxytocic plants have been documented in ethnobotanical surveys in other African countries such as Uganda (75 plants) ³, Democratic Republic of Congo (98 plants) ⁴, Cote d’Ivoire (48 plants) ⁷ and Cameroon (22 plants) ⁶ without appreciable scientific validation of activity.

TABLE 1: PROFILE OF NIGERIAN PLANTS WITH OXYTOCIC ACTIVITY

FIG. 1: DISTRIBUTION OF MORPHOLOGICAL PARTS

The trend of oxytocic research activities in the past 44 years (1982-2026) in Nigeria on ten-year basis is presented in Fig 2: 1982-1991 (3.70%), 1992-2001 (7.40%), 2002-2011 (22.22%), 2012 2021 (48.15%), 2022-2031 (18.52% ongoing). In Nigeria, oxytocic research was minimal at the onset in 1982-1991, but rose to attain a maximum (48.15%) in 2021 Fig. 2. The improved research activity (18.52%) in the current research interval (2022-2031) is noteworthy, with prospects of further improvement by 2031. Overall, 52 scientifically-investigated oxytocic plant species are documented for Nigeria. In sub-Saharan Africa, out of the over 200 plant species recognized as traditional oxytocics, only 82 species (approx. 41%) have been pharmacologically validated as at 201355. In this review, the large number of scientifically-validated oxytocic plants in Nigeria (52) compared with other countries possibly ranks Nigeria first in this research area.

FIG. 2: TREND OF OXYTOCIC RESEARCH IN NIGERIA

A comprehensive documentation of reports of investigations into Nigerian folklore for oxytocic activity using different in vitro models is presented in Table 1. Based on this review, uterotonic action in pregnant and non-pregnant female rats (73.07%) was mostly reported. In addition, studies on human (15.38%), guinea pig (7.69%) and mice (3.84%) myometrial smooth muscle were documented. This is in agreement with similar studies reported elsewhere ⁴⁶.

However, tocolytic action has been established for eleven plant extracts (16.95%) including Trema orientale root bark, Spondias mombin root bark, Napoleona vogelii leaf, Laurus nobilis leaf and Euphorbia convolvuloides whole herb. In the few studies involving potentiation of agonists, positive results were recorded for only five plants (8.69%) for example Vitex doniana stem bark, Spondias mombin leaf, Piper guineense leaf and seed, and Musanga cecropioides stem bark. According to the number of publications considered for this review, Spondias mombin was the most studied plant (5.88%), followed by Ocimum gratissimum, Vernonia amygdalina and Xylopia aethiopica in equal ranking of 3.92%. Inhibition of contractile effect of extracts on rat uterus by atropine or salbutamol was documented in few researched cases, for example Phoenix dactylifera fruit, Hunteria umbellata fruit and Globimetula braunii leaf Table 1.

It is noteworthy that some of the plant species documented in this review were found to be used elsewhere for similar purpose. For example, Calotropis procera, Ficus exasperata and Piper guineense in Cote d’Ivoire7, as well as Vernonia amygdalina, Carica papaya and Commelina africana in Ugandan ³ oxytocic herbal remedies have been published. In most African traditional settings, oxytocic liquid recipes are usually administered orally ^{3, 6, 7} in the third trimester of pregnancy. Occasionally, rectal evacuation enema for example in Cameroon ⁶ and cataplasm in Democratic Republic of Congo ⁴ are alternative routes of administration.

Isolated Bioactive Compounds: Furthermore, limited full characterization of bioactive compounds from five Nigerian oxytocic plants (9.80%) was evident from this review Table 1. Ficus exasperata leaf aqueous extract that furnished a chlorophyll derivative, pheophytin and its derivative, pheophorbide in addition to flavonoids and pyrimidine derivatives is known ²³. Earlier, Uguru et al ²⁹ isolated peptide containing tyrosine, leucine and serine from Monechma ciliatum, while Bello et al ¹⁶ characterized isoflavones from Brachystegia eurycoma. Moreover, a quinazoline alkaloid (vasicine) was reported in Sida acuta ⁴⁵.

Other bioactive compounds such as riden, a cyclotide peptide from Rinorea dentata ⁴⁴ and the triterpenoid glycoside (dalsaxin) from Dalbergia saxatilis root ²², have also been reported. Nevertheless, specific bioactive oxytocic compounds were not isolated from majority of the plants, but activity was rather attributed to the group of secondary phytochemicals. However, Gruber et al ¹⁴ have previously reviewed constituents of labour-inducing plant extracts. This finding therefore corroborates the limited characterization reported for Nigerian plants.

CONCLUSION: This review has documented fifty-two medicinal plants in Nigeria which are dominant in the Apocynaceae and Fabaceae. These have been studied for their possible oxytocic effects during the past forty-four years. Mainly uterotonic and to a lesser extent, tocolytic effects of mostly leaves and stem were frequently published.

Although, oxytocic research became popular in Nigeria during 2012-2021 research period, it is nevertheless an uncommonly investigated pharmacological activity in view of the number of plants involved. Of the four frequently studied plant-based oxytocics, Spondias mombin, Xylopia aethiopica, Ocimum gratissimum and Vernonia amygdalina, none has been fully characterized for their bioactive compounds and mechanisms of action. More experimental studies will be required in this direction before the assessment of clinical efficacy.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: My profound appreciation goes to Dr. I. A. Akinwumi, Department of Pharmacognosy, Lead City University, Ibadan for the drawing of bar and pie charts.

Funding: All sources of funding for this work was generated from personal emoluments of the sole author.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST: The author expresses no conflict of interest whatsoever during the course of this review exercise.

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    How to cite this article:

    Gbolade AA: Medicinal plants in Nigeria employed as traditional oxytocics. An updated review. Int J Pharmacognosy 2026; 13(11): 1131-40. doi link: http://dx.doi.org/10.13040/IJPSR.0975-8232.IJP.13(11).1131-40.

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