TINOSPORA CORDIFOLIA

OTHER NAME(S):

Ambervel, Amrita, Amritha, Gilo, Giloe, Giloy, Glunchanb, Guduchi, Gulancha Tinospora, Gulvel, Gurcha, Heart-Leaved Moonseed, Heavenly Elixir, Indian Tinospora, Jetwatika, Mehahara, Mehaghna, Moonseed, Pramehahara, Pramehaghna, Sindal, Sittamrytu, Somida, Tinospora, Tinospora Indien, Tinosporia Cordifolus.

Overview

Overview Information

Tinospora cordifolia is a shrub that is native to India. Its root, stems, and leaves are used in Ayurvedic medicine.

Tinospora cordifolia is used for hay fever, athletic performance, diabetes, high cholesterol, upset stomach, gout, an itchy skin infection caused by mites (scabies), and many other conditions, but there is no good scientific evidence to support these uses.

How does it work?

Tinospora cordifolia contains many different chemicals that might affect the body. Some of these chemicals have antioxidant effects. Others might increase the activity of the body's immune system. Some chemicals might have activity against cancer cells in test animals. Most research has been done in test tubes or in animals. There isn't enough information to know the effects of Tinospora cordifolia in the human body.

Uses

Uses & Effectiveness?

Possibly Effective for

  • Hay fever. A particular extract of Tinospora cordifolia (Tinofend, Verdure Sciences) seems to decrease sneezing, nasal itching, and stuffy nose after about 2 months of treatment.

Insufficient Evidence for

  • Athletic performance. Early research shows that taking an extract of Tinospora cordifolia stem does not improves speed or strength in healthy men.
  • Foot sores in people with diabetes. Early research shows that taking Tinospora cordifolia with other medications prescribed by a physician might help foot ulcers due to diabetes to heal faster.
  • Osteoarthritis. Some research shows that taking specific Ayurvedic formulations containing Indian gooseberry, ginger, and Tinospora cordifolia, with or without Boswellia, improves pain and function in people with osteoarthritis.
  • Itchy skin infection caused by mites (scabies). Early research shows that applying a lotion containing Tinospora cordifolia clears the symptoms of scabies. It seems to be as effective as a medication called permethrin lotion.
  • Cancer.
  • Diabetes.
  • Fever.
  • Gonorrhea.
  • Gout.
  • High cholesterol.
  • Liver disease.
  • Rheumatoid arthritis.
  • Stomach ulcer.
  • Syphilis.
  • To counteract a suppressed immune system.
  • Upset stomach.
  • Other conditions.
More evidence is needed to rate the effectiveness of Tinospora cordifolia for these uses.

Side Effects

Side Effects & Safety

When taken by mouth: Tinospora cordifolia is POSSIBLY SAFE when taken for up to 8 weeks. It might cause headache or nasal pain in some people. There isn't enough reliable information to know if Tinospora cordifolia is safe to use for more than 8 weeks or what the side effects might be.

When applied to the skin: There isn't enough reliable information to know if Tinospora cordifolia is safe to use when pregnant or breast-feeding. Stay on the safe side and avoid use.

Special Precautions & Warnings:

Pregnancy and breast-feeding: There isn't enough reliable information to know if Tinospora cordifolia is safe to use when pregnant or breast-feeding. Stay on the safe side and avoid use.

Diabetes: Tinospora cordifolia might lower blood sugar levels. Use it cautiously if you have diabetes, and monitor your blood sugar levels. The doses of your diabetes medications might need to be adjusted.

"Autoimmune diseases" such as multiple sclerosis (MS), lupus (systemic lupus erythematosus, SLE), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), or other conditions: Tinospora cordifolia might cause the immune system to become more active, and this could increase the symptoms of autoimmune diseases. If you have one of these conditions, it's best to avoid using Tinospora cordifolia.

Surgery: Tinospora cordifolia might affect blood sugar levels, so there is a concern that it might interfere with blood sugar control during and after surgery. Stop taking Tinospora cordifolia at least 2 weeks before a scheduled surgery.

Interactions

Interactions?

Moderate Interaction

Be cautious with this combination

!

  • Medications for diabetes (Antidiabetes drugs) interacts with TINOSPORA CORDIFOLIA

    Tinospora cordifolia might decrease blood sugar. Diabetes medications are also used to lower blood sugar. Taking Tinospora cordifolia along with diabetes medications might cause your blood sugar to go too low. Monitor your blood sugar closely. The dose of your diabetes medication might need to be changed.

    Some medications used for diabetes include glimepiride (Amaryl), glyburide (DiaBeta, Glynase PresTab, Micronase), insulin, pioglitazone (Actos), rosiglitazone (Avandia), chlorpropamide (Diabinese), glipizide (Glucotrol), tolbutamide (Orinase), and others.

  • Medications that decrease the immune system (Immunosuppressants) interacts with TINOSPORA CORDIFOLIA

    Tinospora cordifolia might increase the immune system. Taking it along with some medications that decrease the immune system might decrease the effectiveness of these medications.

    Some medications that decrease the immune system include azathioprine (Imuran), basiliximab (Simulect), cyclosporine (Neoral, Sandimmune), daclizumab (Zenapax), muromonab-CD3 (OKT3, Orthoclone OKT3), mycophenolate (CellCept), tacrolimus (FK506, Prograf), sirolimus (Rapamune), prednisone (Deltasone, Orasone), corticosteroids (glucocorticoids), and others.

Dosing

Dosing

The following doses have been studied in scientific research:

BY MOUTH:

  • For allergic rhinitis (hay fever): 300 mg of a specific Tinospora cordifolia aqueous stem extract (Tinofend, Verdure Sciences) three times daily for 8 weeks.

Previous:
Next: Uses

View References

REFERENCES:

  • Agrawal A, Malini S, Bairy KL, Rao MS. Effect of Tinospora cordifolia on learning and memory in normal and memory deficit rats. Indian J Pharmacol 2002 34: 339-349.
  • Badar VA, Thawani VR, Wakode PT, et al. Efficacy of Tinospora cordifolia in allergic rhinitis. J Ethnopharmacol 2005;96:445-9. View abstract.
  • Castillo AL, Osi MO, Ramos JD, De Francia JL, Dujunco MU, Quilala PF. Efficacy and safety of Tinospora cordifolia lotion in Sarcoptes scabiei var hominis-infected pediatric patients: A single blind, randomized controlled trial. J Pharmacol Pharmacother. 2013 Jan;4(1):39-46. View abstract.
  • Chopra A, Saluja M, Tillu G, Sarmukkaddam S, Venugopalan A, Narsimulu G, Handa R, Sumantran V, Raut A, Bichile L, Joshi K, Patwardhan B. Ayurvedic medicine offers a good alternative to glucosamine and celecoxib in the treatment of symptomatic knee osteoarthritis: a randomized, double-blind, controlled equivalence drug trial. Rheumatology (Oxford) 2013;52(8):1408-17. View abstract.
  • Goel HC, Prasad J, Singh S, et al. Radioprotective potential of an herbal extract of Tinospora cordifolia. Radiat Res (Tokyo) 2004;45:61-8. View abstract.
  • Grover JK, Vats V, Rathi SS. Anti-hyperglycemic effect of Eugenia jambolana and Tinospora cordifolia in experimental diabetes and their effects on key metabolic enzymes involved in carbohydrate metabolism. J Ethnopharmacol 2000;73:461-70. View abstract.
  • Hussain L, Akash MS, Ain NU, Rehman K, Ibrahim M. The Analgesic, Anti-Inflammatory and Anti-Pyretic Activities of Tinospora cordifolia. Adv Clin Exp Med. 2015 Nov-Dec;24(6):957-64. View abstract.
  • Jagetia GC, Nayak V, Vidyasagar MS. Evaluation of the antineoplastic activity of guduchi (Tinospora cordifolia) in cultured HeLa cells. Cancer Lett 1998;127:71-82. View abstract.
  • Jagetia GC, Rao SK. Evaluation of Cytotoxic Effects of Dichloromethane Extract of Guduchi (Tinospora cordifolia Miers ex Hook F & THOMS) on Cultured HeLa Cells. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2006 Jun;3(2):267-72. View abstract.
  • Kapil A, Sharma S. Immunopotentiating compounds from Tinospora cordifolia. J Ethnopharmacol 1997;58:89-95. View abstract.
  • Kapur P, Jarry H, Wuttke W, Pereira BM, Seidlova-Wuttke D. Evaluation of the antiosteoporotic potential of Tinospora cordifolia in female rats. Maturitas. 2008 Apr 20;59(4):329-38. View abstract.
  • Kapur P, Pereira BM, Wuttke W, Jarry H. Androgenic action of Tinospora cordifolia ethanolic extract in prostate cancer cell line LNCaP. Phytomedicine. 2009 Jun;16(6-7):679-82. View abstract.
  • Leyon PV, Kuttan G. Effect of Tinospora cordifolia on the cytokine profile of angiogenesis-induced animals. Int Immunopharmacol 2004;4:1569-75. View abstract.
  • Manjrekar PN, Jolly CI, Narayanan S. Comparative studies of the immunomodulatory activity of Tinospora cordifolia and Tinospora sinensis. Fitoterapia 2000;71:254-7. View abstract.
  • Nair PK, Rodriguez S, Ramachandran R, et al. Immune stimulating properties of a novel polysaccharide from the medicinal plant Tinospora cordifolia. Int Immunopharmacol 2004;4:1645-59. View abstract.
  • Panchabhai TS, Kulkarni UP, Rege NN. Validation of therapeutic claims of Tinospora cordifolia: a review. Phytother Res. 2008 Apr;22(4):425-41. View abstract.
  • Prince PS, Menon VP. Antioxidant activity of Tinospora cordifolia roots in experimental diabetes. J Ethnopharmacol 1999;65:277-81. View abstract.
  • Prince PS, Padmanabhan M, Menon VP, et al. Restoration of antioxidant defence by ethanolic Tinospora cordifolia root extract in alloxan-induced diabetic liver and kidney. Phytother Res 2004;18:785-7. View abstract.
  • Purandare H, Supe A. Immunomodulatory role of Tinospora cordifolia as an adjuvant in surgical treatment of diabetic foot ulcers: a prospective randomized controlled study. Indian J Med Sci. 2007 Jun;61(6):347-55. View abstract.
  • Rao SK, Rao PS, Rao BN. Preliminary investigation of the radiosensitizing activity of guduchi (Tinospora cordifolia) in tumor-bearing mice. Phytother Res. 2008 Nov;22(11):1482-9. View abstract.
  • Rawal A, Muddeshwar M, Biswas S. Effect of Rubia cordifolia, Fagonia cretica linn, and Tinospora cordifolia on free radical generation and lipid peroxidation during oxygen-glucose deprivation in rat hippocampal slices. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2004;324:588-96. View abstract.
  • Rawal AK, Muddeshwar MG, Biswas SK. Rubia cordifolia, Fagonia cretica linn and Tinospora cordifolia exert neuroprotection by modulating the antioxidant system in rat hippocampal slices subjected to oxygen glucose deprivation. BMC Complement Altern Med 2004;4:11. View abstract.
  • Reddy SS, Ramatholisamma P, Karuna R, Saralakumari D. Preventive effect of Tinospora cordifolia against high-fructose diet-induced insulin resistance and oxidative stress in male Wistar rats. Food Chem Toxicol. 2009 Sep;47(9):2224-9. View abstract.
  • Sahu R, Ahmed T, Sangana R, Punde R, Subudhi BB. Effect of Tinospora cordifolia aqua-alcoholic extract on pharmacokinetic of glibenclamide in rat: an herb-drug interaction study. J Pharm Biomed Anal. 2018;151:310-6. doi: 10.1016/j.jpba.2018.01.010. View abstract.
  • Salve BA, Tripathi RK, Petare AU, Raut AA, Rege NN. Effect of Tinospora cordifolia on physical and cardiovascular performance induced by physical stress in healthy human volunteers. Ayu. 2015 Jul-Sep;36(3):265-70. View abstract.
  • Sannegowda KM, Venkatesha SH, Moudgil KD. Tinospora cordifolia inhibits autoimmune arthritis by regulating key immune mediators of inflammation and bone damage. Int J Immunopathol Pharmacol. 2015 Dec;28(4):521-31. View abstract.
  • Sharma B, Dabur R. Protective Effects of Tinospora cordifolia on Hepatic and Gastrointestinal Toxicity Induced by Chronic and Moderate Alcoholism. Alcohol Alcohol. 2016 Jan;51(1):1-10. View abstract.
  • Singh N, Singh SM, Shrivastava P. Immunomodulatory and antitumor actions of medicinal plant Tinospora cordifolia are mediated through activation of tumor-associated macrophages. Immunopharmacol Immunotoxicol 2004;26:145-62. View abstract.
  • Stanely Mainzen Prince P, Menon VP, Gunasekaran G. Hypolipidaemic action of Tinospora cordifolia roots in alloxan diabetic rats. J Ethnopharmacol 1999;64:53-7. View abstract.
  • Stanely Mainzen Prince P, Menon VP. Hypoglycaemic and hypolipidaemic action of alcohol extract of Tinospora cordifolia roots in chemical induced diabetes in rats. Phytother Res 2003;17:410-3. View abstract.

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CONDITIONS OF USE AND IMPORTANT INFORMATION: This information is meant to supplement, not replace advice from your doctor or healthcare provider and is not meant to cover all possible uses, precautions, interactions or adverse effects. This information may not fit your specific health circumstances. Never delay or disregard seeking professional medical advice from your doctor or other qualified health care provider because of something you have read on WebMD. You should always speak with your doctor or health care professional before you start, stop, or change any prescribed part of your health care plan or treatment and to determine what course of therapy is right for you.

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