Abstracts

Analgesic

Analgesic

Examined the analgesic and sedative effects of extracts from the Morinda Citrifolia Plant.

The extract was shown to be non-toxic and did show significant, dose-related, central analgesic activity in the treated mice.

The conclusion of these researchers was that the extract did in fact demonstrate analgesic effects consistently in each experiment.

Findings validate the traditional analgesic properties of this plant.

Younos, C et al: Analgesic and Behavioral Effects of Morinda Citrifolia. Planta Medica 56 (1990) 430-434.

Cancer & Noni Juice

Cancer

Noni fruit juice (from Morinda citrifolia) may suppress the growth of tumor cells, and may therefore increase the life span of cancer patients, according to this study conducted on mice. Researchers administered noni juice to tumor-bearing mice. Those mice who received the juice lived longer than controls. While noni may not be toxic, it seemed to suppress tumor growth by activating the host immune system, as evident by the lack of supression in presence of an immunosuppressive agent. Researchers believe that noni may therefore have applications in cancer treatment.

Hirazumi A, Furusawa E: An immunomodulatory polysaccharide-rich substance from the fruit juice of Morinda citrifolia (noni) with antitumour activity, Phytother Res 1999 Aug;13(5):380-7


Studied the effect of over 500 extracts from tropical plants on the K-ras-NRK cell, (a precursor to certain types of cancer). The compound, damnacanthal, found in the Morinda Citrifolia (Noni), was found to be an inhibitor of ras function.

The Ras function was inhibited by the injected plant extract. This same compound has been found to inhibit the Epstein-Barr virus early-antigen activation. The extract from the Morinda Citrifolia was found to be most effective in inhibiting Ras function among the 500 tested extracts.

T. Hiramatsu, M. Imoto, T. Koyano, K. Umezawa Cancer Letters 73 (1993) 161-166

Lung Carcinoma

Lung Carcinoma

The mice were injected with active Lewis Lung Carcinoma cells (LLC). Untreated, the mice died form 9-12 days after injection from tumor growth. A portion of the injected mice were treated with Noni juice in five separate daily treatments. The Noni juice was shown to significantly increase the life span of the treated mice (from 105%-123%) with 9 of 22 mice surviving for more than 50 days. The experiment was repeated on different mice with similar results.

The Research Team concluded that the Noni juice ?seems to act indirectly by enhancing host immune system involving macrophages and/or lymphocytes.

Hirazumi, A et al., AntiCancer Activity of Morinda Citrifolia on Intraperitoneally implanted Lewis Lung Carcinoma in Syngenic Mice. Proc. West Pharmacol. Soc. (1994). 37: 145-146.