Usage peculiarities of medicinal plants in case of asthma

Abstract

Introduction. Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways that may lead to limitations in regular activities, to hospitalizations and a decrease in quality of life. Plants and bioactive compounds, used in case of asthma, have a spasmolytic, digestive organs overload reducing, anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic, antiseptic, mucolytic, expectorant improving effects [1].Aim. To perform a comparative evaluation of the activity of medicinal plants used to treat asthma. Methods. Computerised literature searches were performed to identify all published articles on the subject. The following databases were used: Medline, Pubmed, Cochrane Library, and Embase. Only randomized clinical trials were included. The data were extracted in a standardised, predefined manner and assessed critically. Results. Seventeen randomised clinical trials of herbal preparations for the treatment of asthma were found [2]. Herbal interventions used multi-ingredients such as Agrimonia eupatoria L., Arctium lappa L., Eucalyptus spp., Lavandula angustifolia Mill., Plantago major L., Thymus vulgaris L., Viola tricolor L. [2,3]. Compared with routine pharmacotherapies alone, herbal medicines as add-on therapy improved lung function, reduced inflammation and improved the quality of life. Due to variety of secondary metabolites, plants can promote antiasthma activity mainly due to their anti-inflammatory and bronchodilator properties. In addition, despite the relevant antiasthmatic activity, the literature search showed a lack of investigations concerning the pharmacokinetics properties as well as more accurate information regarding efficacy, safety, and the required dosage to induce in vivo antiasthma activity [4]. Conclusions. The experimental studies reported in this topic may lead to the development of new herbal drugs in the future, able to improve the antiasthmatic treatment.