Diuretic Activity of Indian Medicinal Plant: A Review

Abstract

Diuretics are commonly defined as drugs that increase the amount of urine produced by kidney. A precise definition is that diuretics are the agent which augment the renal excretion of sodium and either chloride or bicarbonate primarily, and water excretion secondarily. The term “saluretic” is sometime used to describe a drug that increase the renal excretion of sodium and chloride ion Diuretics are responsible for increase the rate of urine flow, sodium excretion and to maintain the volume and composition of body fluids in a various clinical Disorders. But drug-induced diuresis is very much beneficial in such type of life-threatening disorders like CHF, hypertension, renal failure, Liver cirrhosis and often pregnancy toxaemia.[1] Diuretics relieve pulmonary congestion and peripheral edema. This decreases cardiac workload, oxygen demand and plasma volume, thus decreasing blood pressure. Thus, diuretics play an important role in hypertensive patients.[2] Plant medicine is commonly used in the traditional treatment of some renal diseases, and many plants are reported to possess significant diuretic activity. The diuretic activity of a number of plants used in ethno medicine as diuretic agents has been confirmed in experimental animal. [3]The progress of a polyherbal formulation is a tough job because of the large number of different chemical compounds present in the different medicinal plants.