Medicinal Plants in the Treatment of Arthritis
Published 2019 · Shakir Saleem, R. Khan, Imran Kazmi
Plant and Human Health, Volume 3
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Abstract
Arthritis is an inflammatory, chronic, autoimmune disorder identified by swelling, stiffness, and pain. It covers 0.5% of population of the world and leads to disability in joint. Synthetic drugs are used to treat these abnormal conditions but are associated with side effects like osteoporosis and gastric bleeding. Herbal drugs are becoming popular due to their less toxicity in comparison to synthetic drugs. Many therapeutic agents are developed from herbal drugs. Scientific reports explored the beneficial effects of herbal medicines in the treatment of arthritis by various basic mechanisms like downregulation of inflammatory cytokines such as NF-jB, IL-6, TNF-a, and oxidative stress suppression; cartilage degradation inhibition; and increase of antioxidant potential. Medicinal plants contain various bioactive compounds like alkaloids, flavonols, dihydroflavonols, coumarins, glycosylflavons, terpenes, phytoestrogens, anthraquinones, sesquiterpene lactones, thymoquinones, and lignans which play a significant role in ameliorating the effects of arthritis. In this chapter, we summarize updated information on RA including epidemiology, etiology, role of phytoconstituents in the treatment of arthritis, available treatments, and side effects of synthetic medicine in comparison to herbal medicine and individual herbal drugs.