Narrative review and translational prioritisation of Nigerian medicinal plants with nephroprotective potential

Abstract

Abstract Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a growing public-health challenge in Nigeria, where delayed access to specialist care and widespread use of botanical medicines make the translational evaluation of medicinal plants important. Existing reviews have not sufficiently integrated ethnobotanical relevance, kidney-specific pharmacology, safety evidence, extract standardisation readiness, and feasibility within a chemistry-led prioritisation framework. This article is therefore presented as a narrative review with translational prioritisation, in which the Nigerian and regional literature was examined and organised qualitatively. Literature published between January 2000 and June 2025 was examined across PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, African Journals Online, Google Scholar, and selected grey-literature sources. The review concentrated on Nigerian medicinal plants reported for kidney-related or urinary indications, and on Nigerian plant material investigated in kidney-relevant experimental settings with extractable species-level data. The literature examined covered 84 plant species across 42 families. Leaves were the most frequently reported plant material, followed by stem bark. Forty-three species had at least one potentially relevant renal-use, kidney-adjacent, pharmacological, toxicological, or chemistry-context report, but only seven species emerged as Tier A candidates after appraisal of their kidney-relevant pharmacology and report quality. Hibiscus sabdariffa L. ranked highest, followed by Gymnanthemum amygdalinum (Delile) Sch.Bip. [syn. Vernonia amygdalina Delile] and Alchornea cordifolia (Schumach. & Thonn.) Müll.Arg. Across the evidence base, nephroprotective activity was most often linked to antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-fibrotic, and kidney function-preserving effects. Translation remained constrained by weak extract definition, sparse renal toxicology, limited human evidence, absence of pharmacokinetic standardisation, and inconsistent quality control. The prioritised species should therefore be interpreted as candidates for chemistry-defined validation, not as clinic-ready botanical products.