Medicinal Plants in the Treatment of Tuberculosis: A Systematic Review

Tuberculosis (TB) is the most common disease that affects the lungs, and it is associated with Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. Many synthetic medications, such as pyrazinamide, isoniazid, and ethambutol, are available to treat TB; however, their adverse effects are severe. Medicinal herbs have lately become popular, safe, and effective alternative treatments for TB.

The purpose of this systematic review was to assess the possible use of natural plants in the development of herbal treatments and remedies for TB by studying the medicinal plants and phytochemicals that have been used for the disease. Information was gathered from a variety of sources, including Bentham, Elsevier, Springer, Nature, Google Scholar, PubMed, Sci- Finder, and the Web of Science. For the investigation, common and scientific names of plants, as well as terms like "mycobacterium tuberculosis," "herbal plants," "flavonoids," and "alkaloids" were employed. In the end, 376 plants belonging to 83 families were discovered, and details about each plant family, as well as the section of the plant utilized, chemical components, extract, and strain, were extracted.

The findings showed that although flavonoids and alkaloids were the most prevalent naturally occurring substances found in plants, the Fabiaceae family had a greater potential to eradicate TB.

The leaf portion was shown to be more active, and the S-37 RV strain of Mycobacterium TB was employed more frequently.