Supplements and Herbs
Pigeon pea health benefits
Scientific studies show anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, anti-cancer effects — and counting
by Healing Cancer Naturally, copyright © 2024
Nature truly provides us with what seems like an unending supply of medicinal plants. Here is another one that helps us with a wide range of illnesses, including cancer — the pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan).
Like our well-known garden pea, the pigeon pea is a member of the large (sub)family of the papilionaceous plants. This legume is cultivated in large parts of the tropics and subtropics (i.e. in Africa, Asia, Central and South America, Australia and Oceania).
Used in traditional medicine to treat skin diseases, diabetes[1], inflammatory diseases and various other bodily disorders[2], the pigeon pea, like all legumes (Fabaceae), is a rich source of natural antioxidants.[3] In addition to its important role in food security, research has already discovered numerous other positive properties of the pigeon pea that affect our health.
THE PIGEON PEA AGAINST INFLAMMATORY DISEASES
Chronic inflammatory diseases are now thought to be responsible for half of all deaths worldwide, with the underlying inflammation associated with a wide range of progressive diseases, including cancer, neurological, metabolic and cardiovascular diseases.
We now know from epidemiological studies that certain natural compounds in our food are effective against chronic inflammatory diseases. For example, the leaves, roots, pulses and seeds of the pigeon pea are rich in phenolic compounds, which have antibacterial, antioxidant, anticarcinogenic and blood sugar-lowering properties as well as anti-inflammatory properties.[4]
Taiwanese researchers looked into the effect of a pigeon pea extract or its main component (an anthocyanin) on cells of the immune system (macrophages) that had been treated (damaged) with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) or lipopolysaccharides. The researchers paid particular attention to the extract's effectiveness as a radical scavenger and its effect on DNA damage and the activity of antioxidant enzymes.
What they found was that the extracts protected the immune cells from DNA damage caused by H2O2. In macrophages treated with lipopolysaccharides, the extracts suppressed the release of signalling proteins (cytokines) involved in local and systemic inflammation (including tumor necrosis factor and Interleukin 6).[5]
Another study — already cited — also found that C. cajan and the compounds it contains exert significant anti-inflammatory effects on macrophages stimulated with lipopolysaccharides.[6]
THE PIGEON PEA AGAINST HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE
At around 24%, pigeon peas have a relatively high protein content (which is why they are sometimes used as the main source of protein in a vegetarian diet). A team of Nigerian and Canadian researchers was able to prove that pea proteins greatly (and almost immediately) reduce systolic blood pressure in test animals with arterial hypertension (-26.12 mmHg within two hours of oral administration of a pea protein hydrolysate).[7]
THE PIGEON PEA AGAINST MRSA
The dangerous multi-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, which can cause not only skin and tissue infections but also pneumonia, meningitis and endocarditis and even shock syndrome and life-threatening sepsis, can no longer be brought under control with numerous antibiotics. We now have Philippine researchers to thank for the realisation that flavonoids, anthraquinones and other biomolecules of the pigeon pea can even be effective against S. aureus germs![8]
THE PIGEON PEA (CAJANOL) AGAINST CANCER
In vitro, pigeon pea compounds showed good cytotoxic effects against three different cancer cell lines — cervical cancer (HeLa cells), colon cancer (Caco-2 cells) and breast cancer cells of the MCF-7 cell line.[9] Cajanol is a secondary plant substance found in the pigeon pea.
Chinese researchers investigated the cytotoxic effect of cajanol on MCF-7 breast cancer cells and found that their growth was inhibited by cajanol in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Cajanol influenced numerous signalling transduction processes that play a role in triggering programmed cell death (apoptosis).[10]
Ovarian cancer is the second most common malignant disease of the female sex and (conventionally treated) also one of the deadliest. The conventional medical approach to ovarian cancer has reached its limits, partly due to the multiple resistance of this type of cancer to chemotherapeutic agents.
Another Chinese study has now tested — in vitro and on laboratory animals — whether Cajanol can reverse this resistance to paclitaxel. Result: Cajanol significantly restored the sensitivity of ovarian cancer cell lines (A2780/Taxol) to paclitaxel in the test tube; in animal experiments, the combined use of paclitaxel and Cajanol inhibited the growth of cancer metastases.[11]
THE PIGEON PEA — EVEN A FOUNTAIN OF ETERNAL YOUTH :) ("ANTIAGING")
An international group of researchers used an optimised method of "sustainable (green) chemistry" to extract the numerous antioxidants and anti-inflammatory flavonoids (cajanol, daidzein, genistein, etc.) found in pigeon pea seeds. Thanks to this ultrasound-based method, the flavonoid yield has been increased by around 70% compared to conventional methods.
Measurements of the antioxidant effects of this extract in the test tube and on yeast cells have now shown that this extract can act as an effective activator of the "longevity enzyme" sirtuin-1 (Sir2, Sirt1) and shield the cell membrane against oxidative stress.[12]
References
1 Grover J. et al.: Medicinal plants of India with anti-diabetic potential. In: Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 2002. PMID 12020931
2 Roswitha Schuster et al.: Cajanus cajan- a source of PPAR? activators leading to anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic effects. In: Food & Function. 2016. PMID 27603115
3 Balwinder Singh et al.: Phenolic composition and antioxidant potential of grain legume seeds: A review. In: Food Research Internation. 2017. PMID 28941672
4 Belete Abebe: The Dietary Use of Pigeon Pea for Human and Animal Diets. In: TheScientificWorldJournal. 2022. PMID 35110974
5 Yi-Syuan Lai et al.: Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan L.) extracts on hydrogen peroxide- and lipopolysaccharide-treated RAW264.7 macrophages. In: Food & Function. 2012. PMID 22914868
6 Roswitha Schuster et al.: Cajanus cajan- a source of PPAR? activators leading to anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic effects. In: Food & Function. 2016. PMID 27603115
7 Aderonke I Olagunju et al.: Antioxidant properties, ACE/renin inhibitory activities of pigeon pea hydrolysates and effects on systolic blood pressure of spontaneously hypertensive rats. In: Food Science & Nutrition. 2018. PMID: 30349677
8 Lex Aliko P Balida et al.: Antibiotic Isoflavonoids, Anthraquinones, and Pterocarpanoids from Pigeon Pea (Cajanus cajan L.) Seeds against Multidrug-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus. In: Metabolites. 2022. PMID: 35448466
9 Roswitha Schuster et al.: Cajanus cajan- a source of PPAR? activators leading to anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic effects. In: Food & Function. 2016. PMID 27603115
10 Meng Lu et al.: Cajanol, a novel anticancer agent from Pigeonpea [Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.] roots, induces apoptosis in human breast cancer cells through a ROS-mediated mitochondrial pathway. In: Chemico-Biological Interactions. 2010. PMID 20638373
11 Ming Sui et al.: Cajanol Sensitizes A2780/Taxol Cells to Paclitaxel by Inhibiting the PI3K/Akt/NF-?B Signaling Pathway. In: Frontiers in Pharmacology. 2021. PMID 34955854
Duangjai Tungmunnithum et al.: Green Extraction of Antioxidant Flavonoids from Pigeon Pea (Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.) Seeds and Its Antioxidant Potentials Using Ultrasound-Assisted Methodology. In: Molecules. 2021. PMID: 34946637
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