Review: Medicinal plants combating against hypertension: A green antihypertensive approach
Sabira Sultana1, Hafiz Muhammad Asif2
1University College of Conventional Medicine, Faculty of Pharmacy and Alternative Medicine, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur, Pakistan.
Insights
High blood pressure (hypertension) causes millions of deaths annually. This review explores medicinal plants and their metabolites as natural, effective, and non-toxic alternatives to synthetic drugs for hypertension treatment.
Area of Science:
- Pharmacology
- Ethnobotany
- Cardiovascular Medicine
Background:
- Hypertension is a global health crisis, responsible for millions of deaths and increasing the risk of severe cardiovascular diseases.
- Current synthetic antihypertensive drugs have limited efficacy and cause adverse side effects, impacting patients' quality of life.
- There is a critical need for safer, natural, and cost-effective alternatives for hypertension management.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the antihypertensive properties of medicinal plants and their derived metabolites.
- To explore the potential of plant-derived natural compounds as cardio-protective and antihypertensive agents.
- To identify specific plant-derived molecules that could serve as future therapeutic tools for hypertension.
Main Methods:
- A comprehensive literature search was conducted across major scientific databases: Elsevier, Science Direct, Springer Link, PubMed, and Google Scholar.
- Keywords used included "plants", "medicinal plants", "plant extracts" combined with "hypertension" and "antihypertensive activity".
- The review focused on studies investigating the in vivo antihypertensive effects of plants and their secondary metabolites.
Main Results:
- Medicinal plants are widely used in traditional medicine, with approximately 80% of the global population relying on them for primary healthcare.
- Plants are rich sources of secondary metabolites, including flavonoids, alkaloids, tannins, and terpenoids, which have demonstrated in vivo antihypertensive properties.
- Research over the past three decades has increasingly focused on the hypotensive and antihypertensive potential of local medicinal plants.
Conclusions:
- Medicinal plants and their metabolites represent a promising avenue for developing novel, safer, and more effective antihypertensive therapies.
- The identified plant-derived compounds offer a valuable basis for discovering new therapeutic agents to combat hypertension.
- Further research into these natural compounds could lead to the development of essential future treatments for cardiovascular health.
Abstract:
Hypertension (HTN) or high blood pressure is a medical condition that accounts 9.4 million deaths all over the world every year. It is leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. It increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases, including heart failure, diffuse atherosclerosis, cognitive impairment and dementia. Clinically, synthetic antihypertensive drugs have been used to treat hypertension. However, the efficacy of these drugs is low and also produces side effects which include dry mouth, dizziness, emotional distress, gastrointestinal disturbance, visual disorders etc. These distressing side effects adversely affect health-related quality of life. Therefore, there is a need to search natural, cheaper and non-toxic compound. Plant are widely use in traditional systems of medicine for the treatment of several diseases. About 80% of the world population relies on traditional medicine for primary healthcare. In the last three decades, a lot of research has been done on local medicinal plants for hypotensive and antihypertensive potentials. Plants are the rich source of secondary metabolites which have been found in vivo to have antihypertensive properties. The current study is focused on reviewing the antihypertensive property of medicinal plants and their metabolites. In the current review, we conducted a literature search using Elsevier, Science direct, Springer Link (Springer), Pub Med and Google Scholar. The search included the keywords "plants", "medicinal plants", "plant extracts", cross-referenced with the keywords "hypertension" "antihypertensive activity". The use of plant origin natural compounds as cardio protective and antihypertensive agents is an interesting strategy for discovering bioactive products. Plants are rich in a variety of secondary metabolites, such as flavonoids, alkaloids, tannins and terpenoids. These have been found in vivo to have antihypertensive effects. The present review therefore; stand for a good basis to choose exact molecules belonging to the indicated categories that in the forthcoming future will become useful therapeutic tools.
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