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Role of medicinal plants in HIV/AIDS therapy
Author(s) -
Laila Umme,
Akram Muhammad,
Shariati Mohammad Ali,
Hashmi Asif Mehmmod,
Akhtar Naheed,
Tahir Imtiaz Mahmood,
Ghauri Aymen Owais,
Munir Naveed,
Riaz Muhammad,
Akhter Naheed,
Shaheen Ghazala,
Ullah Qamar,
Zahid Rabia,
Ahmad Saeed
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
clinical and experimental pharmacology and physiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.752
H-Index - 103
eISSN - 1440-1681
pISSN - 0305-1870
DOI - 10.1111/1440-1681.13151
Subject(s) - medicine , lipodystrophy , antiretroviral therapy , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , disease , medicinal plants , traditional medicine , vernonia amygdalina , immunology , viral load
Human immunodeficiency virus ( HIV ) causes the potentially life‐threatening and chronic disease called acquired immune deficiency syndrome ( AIDS ). The main target of this viral disease is to suppress the immune system and make the body unresponsive to external stimuli. According to global health observatory data since epidemic, more than 78 million people were affected by HIV and 39 million people died globally. Until 2017, 36.5 million people were living with HIV . An estimated 0.8% (0.6%–0.9%) of adults aged 15–49 years worldwide is living with HIV . The World Health Organization ( WHO ) reported that the African region remains most severely affected, with nearly one in every 25 adults (4.1%) living with HIV and accounting for nearly two‐thirds of the people living with HIV worldwide. WHO reported that globally only 21.7 million (19.1 million–22.6 million) people have had access to antiretroviral therapy up to 2017. Currently, antiretroviral therapy ( ART ) is available for the control of HIV but has serious associated side effects such as lipodystrophy. Because of the limitations, associated with ART , researchers throughout the world are trying to explore and develop more reliable and safe drugs from natural resources to manage HIV infection. A wide range of medicinal plants have been studied and have reported significant potential against HIV . Plants like Rheum palmatum L., Rheum officinale , Trigonostem axyphophylloides , Vatica astrotricha , Vernonia amygdalina , Hypoxias pelargonium , Sidoides hemerocallidea and Sutherlandia frutescens etc. have high efficacy to cure HIV . The exact mechanism of action is still not known but various phytoconstituents isolated from medicinal plants such as alkaloids, flavonoids, polyphenols, terpenoids, tannins, proteins and coumarins have the potential to interrupt the life cycle of HIV as well as act as immunomodulators to enhance the immune system of infected patients with no well reported side effects. It could be concluded that medicinal plants have potential for the management of HIV / AIDS but more studies are needed to reveal rigorous efficacy and safety concerns by conducting clinical trials at vast level to explore therapeutic impact of medicinal plants.