Inter. J. of Phytotherapy / Vol 2 / Issue 1 / 2012 / 23-27.

e - ISSN - 2249-7722
Print ISSN - 2249-7730

International Journal of Phytotherapy

www.phytotherapyjournal.com

AN ANNUAL REVIEW OF ANTI INFLAMMATORY MEDICINAL

PLANTS
*Gollapalli Ravikiran, A. Elumalai, M. Chinna Eswaraiah, Veldi Naresh
*Department of Pharmacognosy, Anurag Pharmacy College,
Ananthagiri (v), Kodad (M), Nalgonda (Dt), Andhra Pradesh, India, 508-206.
ABSTRACT
Inflammatory diseases including different types of rheumatic diseases are a major and worldwide problem.
Gastrointestinal side effect is the major problem associated with the presently available non-steroidal antiinflammatory agents. Now a days world population moves towards herbal remedies for treatment of such ailments.
The numbers of plants have been screened for their anti-inflammatory and anti-arthritic activity, but only few of them
reached up to the clinical level. This problem is mainly due to purely academic oriented research. Researchers have to
lay emphasis on the phytoconstituents obtained form that plant for the specific treatment of such disease and not only
to increase the number of plants having anti-inflammatory activity but have to work towards tapping their therapeutic
utility by finding out the mechanism of action at molecular level. In this review we have described some of the
families with respect to its anti-inflammatory mechanism of action.
KEY WORDS: Annual review, Anti-inflammatory activity.

INTRODUCTION
The term inflammation is derived from the Latin
word Inflammare, means burn. Any form of injury to
the human body can elicit a series of chemical changes in
the injured area. Earlier it was believed that inflammation
was contemplated as a single disease caused by
disturbances of body fluids. According to the modern
concept, inflammation is a healthy process resulting from
some disturbance or disease. The cardinal signs of
inflammation are heat, redness, swelling, pain and loss of
function. Inflammation usually involves a sequence of
events which can be categorized under three phases viz.
acute transient phase, delayed sub acute phase and
chronic proliferate phase. In the first phase, inflammatory
exudates develop due to enhanced vascular permeability
and leads to local edema. It is followed by the migration
of leukocytes and phagocytes from blood to vascular
tissues which are the second phase, in the third phase;
tissue degradation is followed by fibrosis. Inflammation

results in the liberation of endogenous mediators like

histamine, serotonin, bradykinin, prostaglandins etc.
Prostaglandins are ubiquitous substances that indicate and
modulate cell and tissue responses involved in
inflammation. These mediators even in small quantities
can elicit pain response. Pain results in dropped muscular
activities. In order to comprehend the inflammatory
process, antagonists of mediators are generally employed
in both Ayurveda and Allopathic treatment. Most of the
anti-inflammatory drugs now available are potential
inhibitors of cyclooxygenase (COX) pathway of
arachidonic
acid
metabolism
which
produces
prostaglandins. Prostaglandins are hyperalgesic, potent
vasodilators and also contribute to erythema, edema and
pain. Hence for treating inflammatory diseases analgesic
and anti-inflammatory agents are required. These points
to the utilization of plants possessing anti-inflammatory
and analgesic properties. Now days herbal drugs are

Corresponding Author:- Gollapalli Ravikiran Email:- ravikirangollapalli62@gmail.com

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Inter. J. of Phytotherapy / Vol 2 / Issue 1 / 2012 / 23-27.

routinely used for curing diseases rather than chemically

derived drugs having side effects. The drugs used in
inflammatory disorders may be either with analgesic and
insignificant anti-inflammatory effects or with analgesic
and mild to moderate anti-inflammatory activity.
These drugs can cause gastric or intestinal
ulceration that can sometimes cause secondary anemia.
Inflammatory diseases include different types of
rheumatic disorders such as rheumatic fever, rheumatoid
arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, polyarthritis nodosa,
systemic lupus erythematosus and osteoarthritis. An array
of drugs are available in the market to treat these

disorders but only very few are free from toxicity.

Gastrointestinal problems associated with theuse of antiinflammatory drugs are still an enduring dilemma of
medical world. It is very important that profound research
with ethnobotanical plants possessing anti-inflammatory
and analgesic properties can definitely open up new vistas
in inflammatory disorders. Purified natural compounds
from plants can serve as template for the synthesis of new
generation antiinflammatory drugs with low toxicity and
higher therapeutic value. This chapter reviews such
medicinal plants with anti-inflammatory and analgesic
properties which have been used by our ancestors to cure
many of their ailments.

Table 1. List of medicinal plants used in the treatment of inflammations.

Botanical
name
Abutilon
indicum Linn
Alpinia
galanga Willd
Amomum
subulatum
Roxb
Argyreia
speciosa Linn

Family

Parts used

Extracts used

References

Whole Plant

Chloroform

Saraswathi et al.[1]

Zingiberaceae

Chemical
constituents
Phytosterols,
saponins
Flavonoids

Rhizomes

Praveen et al. [2]

Zingiberaceae

Tannins

Fruits

Methanol
Pet.ether
Ethanol

Cnvolvuceae

Lysergic Acid,
Amides, 1triacontanol
Morin, Synomacyrin

Root

Acidic Acid

Varsa et al. [4]

Artocarpus
heterophyllus
Lam
Averrhoa
carambola
Linn
Azadirachta
indica A Juss
Bauhinia
variegata
Linn
Callicarpa
macrophylla
Vahl
Calotropis
procera Ait

Moraceae

Bark

Methanol

Umesh et al. [5]

Oxalidaceae

Apigenin, 6-C-B-LFucopyranoside

Leaves

Ethanol and
Ethile acetate

Daniela
et al. [6]

Meliaceae

Tannins, terpenoids

Stem bark

Water

Pravin et al. [7]

Rakta kancham

Steroids

Leaves

Dichlofenac
Sodium

Rajkapur et al.

Verbenaceae

Diterpenoids

Leaves

Ethanol

Veerender Yadav et
al.[8,9]

Apocynaceae

Cardenolides

Stem bark

Chloroform

Nagesh et al. [10]

Cassia
auriculata
Linn
Cassia fistula
Linn
Cassia tora
Linn

Leguminosae

Flavonoids

Flower

Ethanol

Gaurav et al. [11]

Caesalpinaceae

Anthraquinone
Glycosides
Glycosides

Whole plant

Ethanol
Methanol
Pet.ether

Chauhan
Neelam et al. [12]
Harshal et al. [13]

Malvaceae

Leguminosae

Seeds
Root,
Leaves

~ 24 ~

Alam et al. [3]

Inter. J. of Phytotherapy / Vol 2 / Issue 1 / 2012 / 23-27.

Clerodendrum
inerme Linn
Coccinia
cordifolia
Linn
Coccinia
grandis Linn
Diplazium
esculentum
Retz
Euphorbia
heyneana
Spreng
Exacum
wightianum
Arn
Ficus
arnottiana
Miq
Ficus retusa
Linn
Guiera
senegalensis J.
F. Gmel
Hibiscus
sabdariffa
Linn
Kaempferia
galanga Linn
Leucas
cephalotes
Spreng
Microtrichia
perotitii DC
Moringa
oleifera Linn
Nyctanthes
arbor-tristis
Linn
Pergularia
daemia Forssk
Plectranthus
amboinicus
Lour
Quisqualis
indica Linn
Salvia
officinalis
Linn
Cassia alata
Linn
Solanum
americanum
Miller

Verbenaceae

Alkaloids, steroids,

Leaves

Pet.ether
Chloroform

Sangeetha et al. [14]

Cucurbitaceae

Phytoalenins

Whole Plants

Ethyl acetate
n-hexane

Israt Jahan Bulbul et

al. [15]

Cucurbitaceae

Flavonoids

Leaves Stm

Water

Deshpande et al.

Drypteridaceae

Steroids

Leaves

Pet.ether
Chloroform

Kaushik et al.
[16,17]

Eheyneana

Steroids

Plants

Ethanol

Ganga et al. [18]

Gentianaceae

Flavonoids

Whole Plant

Thimmayan
Balu prakash[19]

Moraceae

Flavonoids

Leaves

Ethanol
Methanol
Chloroform
Ethanolic
Solution

Moraceae

Iso flavonoids,
carotenoids
Flavonoids
tannins,
Steroids
Glycosides

Leaves

Ethyl acetate
Methanol
Acetone

Jaya Raju et al. [21]

Calyx

Ethanol

Md.Khadem et al.
[23]

K galangal
carrageeun
Labiatae

Volatile oils

Plants

Methanol

Alkaloids

Leaves

Methanol, Water,
Pet.ether , hexane

Meena Kumari et al.

[1]
Mathur Abhishek et
al. [24,25]

Asteraceae

Saponins, flavonoids

Leaves

Methanol

Abdullahi et al. [26]

Moringaceae

Steriods

Leaves

Kumbhare et al. [1]

Oleaceae

Tannins
Steriods

Leaves

Chloroform
Methanol
Pet.ether,
methanol

Asclepiadaceae

Terpenoids

Whole Plant

Pet.ether, Water

Shastry et al. [29]

Lamiaceae

Triterpenoids

Leaves

Methanol

Murthy et al. [30]

Combretaceae

Tannins

Flowers

Water

Rout et al. [32]

Lamiaceae

Flavonoids

Leaves

Methanol

Valeria et al. [32]

Febaceae

Flavonoids,
Tannins
Evodiamine

Leaves

Methanol

Kingsley et al. [33]

Whole Plant

Methanol
Chloroform

Pushpalatha et al.
[34]

Combretaceae

Malvaceae

Solanaceae

Galls, Leafs
Stem

~ 25 ~

Saha
Rajsekhar et al. [20]

Sombie et al. [22]

Ragavendra et al.
[27,28]

Inter. J. of Phytotherapy / Vol 2 / Issue 1 / 2012 / 23-27.

Strophanthus
sarmentosus
DC
Tectona
grandis Linn
Wedelia
trilobata Linn

Apocynaceae

Alkaloids

Dried roots

Ethanol

Esthero Agbeje et al.

[35]

Verbenaceae

5-Hydroxylapachol

Flowers

Methanol

Asteraceae

Glycosides, tannins

Stem, Flower

Ethanol

Kaustubha
Mohanthy et al. [36]
Govinda et al. [37]

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

From this study, it is clear that the medicinal
plants play a vital role against on various diseases.
Various herbal plants and plants extracts have significant
anti-ulcer activity in animal models. The antiinflammatory activity is probably due to the presence of
flavonoids in all few herbal plants. The results of this
study indicate that extracts of leaves and plants extracts of
some medicinal plant have good potentials for use in
inflammatory diseases. The present review study give

evidential explore mechanism of action of medicinal

plants against experimentally induced ulcer. Hence the
review study is concluded that the herbal drug possesses
anti-inflammatory activity and it has been proved by
different animal models give many links to develop the
future trials.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors are thankful to Mrs. Venkamma for providing
the facilities for carrying out this review work

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