Pharmacological and therapeutic effects of Elaeagnus angustifolia L.: A systematic review of clinical trials

Background and Objective: Elaeagnus angustifolia L., commonly known as oleaster or Russian olive, is used worldwide as a traditional natural remedy or nutritional agent for the management of a wide range of illnesses. The aim of the present study is to review the clinical evidence, ethnopharmacological uses and biological activities of E. angustifolia. Search Method: Electronic databases, including the Cochrane Library, PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus, were searched for entries from 1966 to February2019. Only clinical studies were included in this review. The reference list from retrieved papers was also reviewed for additional applicable studies. To ensure a better comparison between trials, the Jadad score was used to assess the methodological quality of trials. From total of 118 primary search results, 17 final results were selected. Findings: E. angustifolia have been known for their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-nociceptive, antimicrobial, muscle relaxant, anti-ulcer and wound-healing capabilities. Additionally, cardioprotective, antitumor and anti-mutagenic effects of the herb have been demonstrated by current assessments. Generally, whole fruit and medulla powders of Elaeagnus angustifolia L. had positive effects, especially in decreasing total cholesterol and atherogenic indices. Daily supplementation with E. angustifolia L. in both forms of medulla and whole fruit powders appeared to be effective for decreasing inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α and MMP-1) and enhancing anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-10). E. angustifolia extract were effective in reduction of the frequency of orgasmic disorder in women. Conclusion: Considering its wide variety of pharmacological activity as well as its huge diversity of active phytochemical agents, E. angustifolia could be proposed as a good candidate for discovering new drugs. Considering the variety of confirmed therapeutic effects in Clinical studies, future pharmacological and pharmaceutical investigations must focus on isolated active constituents to develop real drugs from this plant.

کلیدواژه ها:

Elaeagnus angustifolia ، Clinical trials ، Russian olive ، Silver berry ، Wild olive