Medicinal plants as immune system modulators

Currently there is much growing interest in the use of various medicinal plants as modulators of the complex immune system. Modern research interest has focused on various herbs that possess immune-stimulating and immune-regulating properties as a useful feature in helping diminish the risk of various diseases and cancer.

Biological products of plants sources have been used by humans for thousands of years either in the pure forms or crude extracts to treat many diseases. It is evident from the human history that medicinal plants have been the treatment regimen to cure a variety of diseases, including diseases caused by insects, fungi, bacteria and viruses.

The effects shown by the plants are due to the chemicals present in them and they work in the same manner as the conventional drugs. Many of plants contain potent antioxidant compounds that provide significant protection against chronic diseases. Through a number of vast researches conducted in the area, it is being explored that many of the chemicals in the form of alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenoids, polysaccharides, lactones and glycoside products are responsible to cause alterations in the immunomodulatory properties.

The term immunity defines body‘s natural defense system against a vast array of diseases and disorders. Remarkably sophisticated and advanced among vertebrates, the complex immune system is capable to generate a limitless variety of cells and molecules to arrest enormous spectrum of infections and undesirable substances. Immunomodulators refer to those substances capable of inducing, amplifying, and inhibiting any component or phase of the immune system. In fact, immunopharmacology is a newer branch of pharmacology concerned with immunomodulators.

Various herbal medicines, such as Reishi and Astragalus, have been found to modulate various components of innate and acquired immune system. In fact, based on proper understanding of various immunomodulatory activities of herbal plants, plants-derived secondary metabolites in natural products can be the lead molecules for the future development of immunomodulators for the therapeutic use.