indian medicinal plants as a source of therapeutic - BRT Publishers

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Int. J Bioscience Res. December 2012 Issue 1 Vol. 1 Antioxidants help organisms deal with oxidative stress, caused by free radical damage. Free radicals are chemical species, which contains one or more unpaired electrons due to which they are highly unstable and cause damage to other molecules by extracting electrons from them in order to attain stability (Ali et al., 2008). Interestingly the body posses defence mechanisms against free radicalinduced oxidative stress, which involve preventive mechanisms, repair mechanisms, physical defenses and antioxidant defenses. Among different families of antioxidants, flavanoids and tannins are most recurring followed by phenolics, ascorbic acid and alkaloids. Plant-derived antioxidants such as tannins, lignans, stilbenes, coumarins, quinones, xanthones, phenolic acids, flavones, flavonols, catechins, anthocyanins and proanthocyanins could delay or prevent the onset of degenerative diseases because of their redox properties, which allow them to act as hydrogen donors, reducing agents, hydroxyl radicals or superoxide radical scavengers (Marwah et al., 2006). Enzymatic antioxidant defenses include superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), catalase (CAT) etc. Nonenzymatic antioxidants are ascorbic acid (vitamin C), a-tocopherol (vitamin E), glutathione (GSH), carotenoids, flavonoids, etc. All these act by one or more of the mechanisms like reducing activity, free radical-scavenging, potential complexing of pro-oxidant metals and quenching of singlet oxygen. The oxidative stress, defined as ‘‘the imbalance between oxidants and antioxidants in favor of the oxidants potentially leading to damage’’ has been suggested to be the cause of aging and various disease in humans (Katalinic et al., 2006). Many plants have been identified as having potential antioxidant activities and it is of interest to investigate the antioxidant properties of herbal infusions especially those traditionally used in folk medicine. Many Indian medicinal plants have been investigated for their beneficial use as antioxidants or source of antioxidants using presently available experimental techniques. Scartezzini and Speroni (2000) reported that Curcuma longa, Magnifera indica, Momordica charantia, Phyllanthus emblica, Santalum album, Swertia chirata and Withania somnifera have possess rich antioxidant activity and used in Indian traditional medicine. Govindarajan et al. (2003) declared that Acorus calamus, Aloe vera, Andrographis paniculata, Asparagus racemosus, Azadirachta indica, Bacopa monnieri, Desmodium gangeticum, Glycyrrhiza glabra, Picrorhiza kurroa, Psoralea corylifolia, Semecarpus anacardium, Terminalia chebula and Tinospora cordifolia were reported to hold significant antioxidant activity. The most common use of these plants was found to be in cardiovascular diseases especially in the treatment of diabetes. Other major applications of these plants were in the form of a neuroprotective, anticancer, antitumor, antistress, dermal wound healing, cardiovascular protection, antidiarrhoea and anticholesterol activity (Ali et al., 2008). Antimycobacterial activity Historically tuberculosis (TB) is one of the oldest and most pervasive diseases in history and TB is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), and to a lesser degree M. bovis and M. africanum, and continues to be a major disease of global importance infecting at least one third or two billion of the world’s population. It is a highly infective airborne and chronic bacterial disease usually infecting the lungs, although other organs are sometimes involved (Okunade et al., 2004). The plant kingdom is undoubtedly a valuable source for new anti-tuberculosis agents and provide the findings from an extensive literature search of all plants that have been assessed for antimycobacterial/ antitubercular activity over the past 20-30 years (Newton et al., 2000). Respiratory disorders such as colds, asthma and bronchitis have and can be treated by 6
Int. J Bioscience Res. December 2012 Issue 1 Vol. 1 phytotherapy. For such ailments leading to infections, the recourse to antibiotics is inevitable. However, throughout the duration or the cold and flu-bouts, decongestants, broncholytics and expectorants, demulcents are helpul in providing relief. According to Ayurvedic concepts, suppression of the urgings of stools and urine, excessive fasting, excessive virility, irregular meals at irregular hours and similar other practices which lead to a waste of the ingredients of the body, produce phthisis or consumption i.e. tuberculosis. A considerable number of plant species have been mentioned in Ayurveda for the treatment of TB, leprosy and related disorders. Gautam et al. (2007) reviewed that, 255 species were found to be antimycobacterial activity in preliminary in vitro screening and most of these species do find mention in traditional systems of medicine. Of the 255 species, 149 plant species that showed positive correlations with ethnomedicinal uses, were reported to be used for TB/phthisis/consumption/leprosy and TB related diseases like pulmonary affections, bronchitis, asthma, cough, whooping cough and infectious diseases of chest. Antimicrobial activity The systematic screening of living organisms with the purpose of discovering new bioactive compounds is a routine activity in many laboratories devoted to biomedical research (Salvat et al., 2004). Many efforts have been made to discover new antimicrobial compounds from various kinds of sources such as micro-organisms, animals, and plants. Since their discovery, antimicrobial drugs have proved remarkably effective for the control of bacterial infections. However, it was soon evident that bacterial pathogens were unlikely to surrender unconditionally, because some pathogens rapidly become resistant to many of the first discovered effective drugs (Barbour et al., 2004). The development of drug resistance in human pathogens against commonly used antibiotics has necessitated a search for new antimicrobial substances from other sources including plants. Plants used for traditional medicine contain a wide range of substances that can be used to treat chronic as well as infectious diseases (Erdogrul 2002). Examples of some microorganisms that gained resistance to antimicrobials are: Bacillus subtilis, Candida albicans, Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis, Ervinia sp., Proteus vulgaris, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Shigella dysenteriae, Salmonella enteritidis, Salmonella typhi, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis and Streptococcus faecalis. In the present scenario, the emergence of multiple drug resistance to human pathogenic organisms has necessitated a search for new antimicrobial substances from other sources including plants and to overcome the problem of antibiotic resistance, medicinal plants have been extensively studied as alternative treatments for diseases (Kumar et al., 2007). Some of the ailments treated with these plants include topical, respiratory, reproductive and gastrointestinal infections caused by fungi. In the case of temperate country, it is expected that the plants used in the treatment of conditions possibly involving microbial pathogens, such as burns, cuts, infections, mouth conditions, and diarrhea, would contain greater antimicrobial activities. In India scientific community is searching for alternative new antibiotics for the last few decades to treat various diseases including diseases caused by microbes. Antibacterial and antifungal activities were reported for various commonly used Indian medicinal plants on the basis of traditional medicine are Acorus calamus, Allium sativum, Azadirachta indica, Camellia sisensis, Citrus sisensis, Lantana camara, Ocimum sanctum, Nigella sativa, Plumbago zeylanica, Punica granatum, Psidium guajava, Terminalia bellirica and Zizyphus jujuba etc. Antimalarial activity Malaria is caused by a single celled protozoan parasites called Plasmodium and 7
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