Evaluation of traditional siddha drugs and their preparations for hepatoprotective adaptogenic and anti oxidant activities

Abstract

Introduction: The desire to capture the wisdom of traditional healing systems has led to a resurgence of interest in herbal medicines, animal parts and minerals. Herbal medicines have recently attracted much attention as alternative medicines useful for treating or preventing life style related disorders. Ancient literatures also mention herbal therapy for age-related diseases namely memory loss, osteoporosis, diabetic wounds, immune and liver disorders, etc. for which no modern medicine or only palliative therapy is yet available. Liver diseases are a major worldwide health problem, with high endemicity in developing countries. They are mainly caused by chemicals and some drugs when taken in very high doses. Therefore, there is an urgent need for effective drugs to replace those in current use. Adaptogens cause an adaptive reaction to a disease and are useful in many unrelated illness and appear to produce a state of non specific increased resistance during stress resulting in stress protection. The adaptogens not only help in coping with stress but help in enhancing the general state of well being. Oxidative stress resulting from the toxic effects of free radicals on the tissue plays an important role in the pathogenesis of various pathological conditions. Free radical also induces liver damage. Antioxidants play an important role in inhibiting and scavenging radicals, thus providing protection to humans against infections and degenerative diseases. Objective: Sida cordata, Indigofera tinctoria and Inula racemosa have been shown to possess widespread pharmacological application against multitude of diseases namely cancer, diabetes, liver disorders, and oxidative stress and so the present work is aimed at evaluating the hepatoprotective, adaptogenic and antioxidant activity of the three preparations (total, fraction and formulation of extract) of traditionally used medicinal plants as drugs in Siddha system of medicine. Methodology: Hepatoprotective activity of the three extracts was evaluated by observing