Traditional Indications

Asthma weed is anodyne, anti-asthmatic, antipruritic carminative, depurative, diuretic, febrifuge, galactogogue, purgative, anti-VD, vermifuge and used topically to kills warts. Asthma weed has traditionally been used in Asia and by the Australian Aboriginals to treat bronchitis, asthma and laryngeal spasm. (1)

Pharmacognosy

Ethanol extract of whole aerial part of the plant shows antihistaminic and antiallergic activity by inhibiting inhibited the passive cutaneous anaphylaxis and paw anaphylaxis reaction; protection of mast cell from degranulation. (2)

Recent studies have indicated that plant has potent antioxidant and antidiabetic properties. The hypoglycemic activity of the leaves extract was comparable with the anti-diabetic drug, gliclazide.(3)

Ethanol extracts exhibit strong antimutagenic activity. (4)

E. hirta has demonstrated potential activity against dengue as it holds significant antiviral and platelet increasing activities. (5)

1. PFAF. Euphorbia hirta 2019
2. Taur DJ, Patil RY. Some medicinal plants with antiasthmatic potential: a current status. Asian Pacific journal of tropical biomedicine. 2011;1(5):413-8.
3. Subramanian SP, Bhuvaneshwari S, Prasath GS. Antidiabetic and antioxidant potentials of Euphorbia hirta leaves extract studied in streptozotocin-induced experimental diabetes in rats. General physiology and biophysics. 2011;30(3):278-85.
4. Loh DS, Er HM, Chen YS. Mutagenic and antimutagenic activities of aqueous and methanol extracts of Euphorbia hirta. Journal of ethnopharmacology. 2009;126(3):406-14.
5. Perera SD, Jayawardena UA, Jayasinghe CD. Potential Use of Euphorbia hirta for Dengue: A Systematic Review of Scientific Evidence. Journal of tropical medicine. 2018;2018:2048530-.