228
9.2.4 Status of Traditional Medicines as Anti-inflammatory
Agents
Most of the diseases primarily progress with inflammatory process and currently
available anti-inflammatory therapies are futile due to intolerable side effects. Thus
new pharmacological approaches are needed and plant-based therapies are now
under consideration. Traditional systems of medicines are now well in practice, and
their scientific validations are required. Different traditional systems include Indian
Ayurveda, European-based plant collections, Kampo system and Chinese traditional medicine. In most of the developing countries, people rely on these medicines
to meet their primary health care. They cannot afford the price of the available
drugs. By the nineteenth century we came to know that the chemical compounds in
the plants are responsible for the pharmacological action and can be isolated and
used as single agents. Prominent plant-derived compounds include vincristine, vinblastine, galantamine, paclitaxel, capsaicin, morphine, quinine, colchicine, atropine
and pilocarpine.
Curcumin, an important constituent of Curcuma longa, has been used for years
for curing inflammatory disorders in Ayurveda. Curcumin has a wide variety of
S
N
O
Zileuton
Setileuton
Baicalin
Atreleuton
F
S
HO
HO
OH
F 3 C
N N
N
H
O
O
O
F
HO
O
O
O
O
O
OH
OH
OH
OH
O
N
NH 2
HO
NH 2
Fig. 9.31 5-LOX inhibitors under Phase II trials
OH
O
O
N
N
OH
CI
O
Veliflapon
Licofelone
Fig. 9.32 FLAP inhibitors
under Phase III clinical
trials
C.S. Sharanya and M. Haridas