Medicinal & Aromatic Plants
Open Access

Herbs Used in the Treatment of Inflammatory Disorders

Madrin Clavier^{* *}Correspondence: Madrin Clavier, Department of Natural Medicine, Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia, Email:

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Description

The heartwood of Santalum album Linn (a member of the Santalaceae family), rhizomes of nigrum Linn (a member of the Piperaceae family), the entire plant of Andrographis paniculata (Burm) Wall ex Nees (a member of the Acanthaceae family), the tubers of Cyperus rotundus Linn (a member of the Cyperaceae family), the roots of Vetiveria zizanio (Linn) Nash. (Poaceae), also the whole plant of Hedyotis corymbosa (Linn.) and Lam. (Rubiaceae), root of Plectranthus vettiveroides (Linn.) Nash. (Lamiaceae) ,whole plant of Trichosanthes cucumerina Linn. (Curcurbitaceae) and rhizomes of Zingiber officinale Rosc. (Zingiberaceae). Kudineer (decoction) is the common name given to the Siddha formulation in which the whole plant (s) or particular part of plant (s) is ground into coarse powder, called as Kudineer Choornam (coarse powder for preparation of decoction). All of these herbs have historically been used to cure a number of disorders, including fever, inflammation, arthralgia, arthritis, stomach ulcer, jaundice, and general disabilities.

The immune system's reaction to adverse stimuli, such as infections, damaged cells, poisonous substances, or irradiation, is inflammation, which has the dual effects of eliminating harmful stimuli and initiating the healing process. Therefore, inflammation is a protective mechanism that is essential for maintaining health. Typically, cellular and molecular activities and interactions during acute inflammatory reactions effectively reduce the risk of harm or infection.

The acute inflammation is reduced and tissue homeostasis is restored as a result of this mitigation mechanism. However, untreated acute inflammation may develop into chronic inflammation, which can lead to a number of chronic inflammatory diseases. The migration of leukocytes from the venous systems to the location of injury and therefore the release of cytokines are known to play an important role within the inflammatory response. These chemicals which are released increase blood flow to the site, resulting in redness and warmth. Some medications produce fluid leaking into the tissues, which results in inflammation.

Acute or chronic inflammation is a common classification for inflammation. Acute inflammation is a kind of short-term process, which usually appears within a few minutes or hours to cease the removal of injurious stimulus. Chronic inflammation ensues when the persistence (due to non-degradable pathogens) of injurious agents (foreign bodies) leads to a progressive shift in the type of cells that are present at the site of injury and it may last for many days to months or years. Injured tissue typically has macrophages predominating, which is a sign of chronic inflammation. The toxins cells emit, reactive oxygen species, which injures both the organism's own tissues and foreign pathogens despite the fact that they are strong defense systems in the body. As a result, tissue damage is frequently related to chronic inflammations.

Anti-inflammatory agents exert their effects through a variety of mechanisms, including inhibition of cotton pellet granulation, uncoupling of oxidative phosphorylation, inhibition of denaturation of protein, stimulation and inactivation of adenosine triphosphate phosphatase, erythrocyte membrane stabilization, lysosomal membrane stabilization, fibrinolytic assay, proteinase inhibition and inhibition of some enzymes that are involved in inflammation. Available nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs, glucocorticoids, and disease-modifying Antirheumatic medications only alleviate symptoms temporarily and are associated with negative side effects. Consequently, there is a need to create medications with minimal complications. Herbal therapy provides potential medical benefits with fewer adverse effects and various phytoconstituents.