ABSTRACT
Plants continue to be a major source of medicines as they have been throughout human
history. A 2008 report from the Botanic Gardens Conservation International (representing
botanic gardens in 120 countries) revealed that 5 billion people still use medicinal plants to
partly cater for their health care needs. According to the World Health Organization,
medicinal plants would be the best source of a variety of drugs (Toroglu, 2011). The fact
that plants synthesize a wide variety of chemical compounds that possess important
biological functions accounts for this very important role of medicinal plants in health
care. These chemical compounds known as phytochemicals, have been reported to possess
beneficial effects on health on long-term basis and can be used to effectively treat diseases
that affects humans. About 12,000 of such compounds that have been isolated so far have
been estimated to be less than 10% of the total plant active ingredients available (Tapsell
et al., 2006).
Currently, plant-derived drugs constitute about 25% of conventional medications used
today (Rao et al., 2004). Some of these drugs were obtained from plants reported to be
potentially toxic. Examples of such drugs are colchicine from Colchicum autumnale used
in the management of gout; and digoxin from Digitalis purpurea used in the management
of heart failure. Some medicinal plants in their crude form have also been reported to
produce better pharmacological activity than their isolated active components, and in some
cases, their isolated active components are more toxic (CHEMEXCIL, 1992) or less
efficacious (Kicklighter et al., 2003) than the crude extract. Hence the need to advance the
development of standardized medicinal plant formulations for clinical use among
populations who will use them anyway; either because they have more confidence in the
herbal formulations or they do not have access to conventional medicines.
abasa, T (2021). Pharmacological and Toxicological Activities of The Aqueous Root Extract of Aristolochia Ringens Vahl. Afribary. Retrieved from https://tracking.afribary.com/works/pharmacological-and-toxicological-activities-of-the-aqueous-root-extract-of-aristolochia-ringens-vahl
Abasa, Tunde "Pharmacological and Toxicological Activities of The Aqueous Root Extract of Aristolochia Ringens Vahl" Afribary. Afribary, 03 May. 2021, https://tracking.afribary.com/works/pharmacological-and-toxicological-activities-of-the-aqueous-root-extract-of-aristolochia-ringens-vahl. Accessed 06 Nov. 2024.
Abasa, Tunde . "Pharmacological and Toxicological Activities of The Aqueous Root Extract of Aristolochia Ringens Vahl". Afribary, Afribary, 03 May. 2021. Web. 06 Nov. 2024. < https://tracking.afribary.com/works/pharmacological-and-toxicological-activities-of-the-aqueous-root-extract-of-aristolochia-ringens-vahl >.
Abasa, Tunde . "Pharmacological and Toxicological Activities of The Aqueous Root Extract of Aristolochia Ringens Vahl" Afribary (2021). Accessed November 06, 2024. https://tracking.afribary.com/works/pharmacological-and-toxicological-activities-of-the-aqueous-root-extract-of-aristolochia-ringens-vahl