Ethnomedicinal plants used for treating urinary tract infections in the Philippines: a systematic review
Authors: Magtalas Mariel , Borja Manuel Luis , Perez Juan Raphael , Quebral Elgin Paul , Tantengco Ourlad Alzeus 
Published: August 2024

Background: In developing nations, including the Philippines, medicinal plants are still utilized to cure prevalent communal ailments. One of these diseases is UTI, characterized by infections of the lower urinary tract, composed of the bladder and urethra, and the upper urinary tract, including the kidneys and ureters. This systematic review identified the medicinal plants used for UTI treatment in the Philippines. Methods: The study was conducted based on the PRISMA flow diagram, starting with a data search on the Scopus, EBSCO-CINAHL, and OVID Medline databases and a manual search from Google Scholar. The following search technique was utilized in Scopus, EBSCO-CINAHL, and Google Scholar was: (ethnobot* OR ethnomed* OR ethnopharmacolo* OR "medicinal plan*") AND (Philippin* OR Filipin*). Meanwhile, the search terms used for Ovid Medline were (ethnobotany OR ethnomedicine OR ethnopharmacology OR medicinal plants) AND (Philippin* OR Filipin*). The collected studies were subjected to inclusion and exclusion criteria. The necessary information was extracted from the eligible research papers, and the studies' quality was assessed through a developed quality assessment tool. Results: Initially, 498 studies are gathered in this systematic review, with 434 obtained from Scopus, EBSCO-CINAHL, and OVID Medline databases and 64 from manual searching on Google Scholar. After thorough screening, the number of eligible studies is narrowed down to 42, with publication dates starting from 2012 to 2021. The articles included are observational studies written in English or Filipino. Most studies included are observational because they provided primary information about ethnobotanical knowledge. Systematic reviews, literature reviews, letters to the editor, comments, and case reports were excluded. The ethnobotanical studies on medicinal plants used for UTI treatment were obtained from the 16 regions of the Philippines, with most ethnobotanical studies conducted in Region III (Central Luzon) and Region XIII (CARAGA). A total of 47 different families, 81 genera, and 97 species are documented in this study. The most common plant family, genus, and species were Poaceae, Cocos, and Cocos nucifera L., respectively. Leaves, roots, and fruits were predominantly used, commonly prepared by decoction and administered orally. Although 26 spp. (26.8%) had no data on toxicity or teratogenicity; most documented medicinal plants (71 spp., 29.58%) used to treat UTIs in the Philippines had records of toxicologic and teratogenic properties. Of these, 45 spp. (63.38%) are nontoxic, 21 spp. (29.58%) are toxic, two spp. (2.82%) are both nontoxic and toxic, two spp. (2.82%) are both toxic and teratogenic, and one sp. (1.41%) is both nontoxic and teratogenic. Conclusion: There remains a scarcity of ethnobotanical studies documenting the use of plants in treating UTIs. This study showed the abundance of medicinal plants used in treating UTI in the Philippines. However, pharmacological and toxicological studies are still needed to determine the safety and efficacy of these medicinal plants in treating UTIs in the community.