Antiarthritic Medicinal Plants: A Review

Abstract

Arthritis is a chronic inflammatory condition which is a major disability throughout the world. The exact pathophysiology of the disease is still unknown but many factors may be responsible for this. Several conventional therapies are used for the treatment but they have certain disadvantages such as side effects, poor bioavailability, high cost etc. So, researches are going on for the development of alternative effective therapy for arthritis. Medicinal plants are very useful for the development of the complimentary therapy. Varieties of medicinal plants are available throughout the world which are having good antiarthritic potential. In India, medicinal plants are widely used in different indigenous systems of medicine for the prevention and cure of arthritis. This review article covers the description of the medicinal plants which are reported to have significant antiarthritic property. Here the possible mechanism of action of the herbs reported for the treatment is also discussed.