PROPHYLACTIC AND LENITIVE EFFECTS OF ANDROGRAPHIS PANICULATA AGAINST COMMON HUMAN AILMENTS: AN EXHAUSTIVE AND COMPREHENSIVE REAPPRAISAL

Abstract

Andrographis paniculata, a member of the family Acanthaceae, is one of the most appraised medicinal herbs of India. Employed for centuries in several medical customs, the plant has been enumerated in the Indian pharmacopoeia and is prevalent in both Indian systems of medicine (Sidha, Unani, Ayurveda) and in Chinese medicine system. The plant has been employed for long to care for respiratory tract infections, colds and to protect the liver from toxic injury, possibly more efficaciously than silymarin. The focal active constituent of the plant is andrographolide a bitter terpene responsible for the bitter taste of the plant. Other active constituents include diterpene lactones like, neoandrographolide, 14-deoxyandrographolide, 14-deoxy-11,12-didehydroandrographolide, andrographiside, isoandrographolide, andrograpanin, 14-deoxy-11-oxo-andrographolide, 14-deoxy-12-hydroxyandrographolide, 6´-acetylneoandrographolide, andrographolactone, 3-oxo-14-deoxyandrographolide, 12-hydroxyandrographolide, and bisandrographolide A. These terpenoids bestow a wide variety of medicinal properties to the plant, rendering it an abortifacient, analgesic, cancerolytic, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, depurative, acrid, antipyretic, expectorant, hypoglycemic, antithrombotic, antiperiodic, cardioprotective, choleretic, digestive, immune enhancing, sedative, laxative, antiviral, and vermicidal agent. While there are quite a few reviews available on this plant but they have either focused on the pharmacological aspects alone or on its phytochemistry and thus the information is very much in a scattered form. Therefore this article constitutes an in depth review of the botany, phytochemistry, pharmacology, Toxicology and biosafety aspects of this plant.