ISSN: 2155-9899
Sri Durgambica Mupparthi
GITAM University, India
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Clin Cell Immunol
Indian folklore has given many promising medicines to the present world. The plant source have been used for treating various diseases and disorders and some of these plants are highly exploited which might have led to their extinction. It is a popular Indian medicinal plant. Some present day studies suggest that the plant is used for nootropic, aphrodisiac, immunomodulatory, hepatoprotective, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antihyperglycemic, antidiarrheal, antimicrobial, antiviral, nematicidal, antiulcer, anticonvulsant, analgesic and central nervous depressant activities. A wide range of phytochemical constituents has been isolated from this plant and none has reported the compounds responsible for immunomodulatory activity. There is a primary study by Gokale et al in 2003 stating the immunomodulatory activity of A.nervosa. The plant is more known for its highest concentration of psychoactive compounds and the seeds are banned in some countries. Therefore the cultivation and studies of this plant is not preferred. The researchers have shown lot of interest in last few years on this plant keeping in view its pharmacological importance. The popularity of the plant lies in its compounds with hallucinogenic properties and hence the pharmacological studies were mostly conducted on antiamnesic, nootrophic properties. The incidence of diseases have increased a lot in the last decade due to many new infectious agents, pollution, lack of hygienic conditions, balanced diet etc. The support of immunostimulatory compound is always there during the treatment. The organ failures and their transplantation have also increased recently and there is a need for a potent immunosuppressant in the process. The generally available compounds are mostly chemically synthesized and there is dearth for naturally produced molecules of similar activity. The plant being a rich pool of secondary metabolites is also reported to be endangered and we therefore proposed to work on conservation and isolation of immunomodulatory compounds from A. nervosa.