32 Conimine (C22H36N2),27 Antidysentericine (C23H36N2O).31 Diseases have been associated with humans since their existence. They reduce the health of human beings and in severe cases even lead to death. Just as a negative charge is stabilized by a positive charge in an atom, likewise, nature has provided medicinal plants as the source of remedies for these diseases. H. antidysenterica has been traditionally used to treat diseases like diarrhoea, dysentery, and helminthic disorders. But with emergence of new methods in

the last few years, experimental studies made it possible to discover more pharmacological SB431542 supplier properties of the plants such as anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant and anti-malarial activities. The

find more multiple activities exhibited by the plant can be attributed to the large number of active principles it possesses. After an extensive literature survey, 68 alkaloids have been reported in this review. While appreciable results have been reported regarding the various activities discussed in the review, there is still a need to carry out further research to determine the active principle involved in each activity. This will allow pharmacists to synthesize novel drugs composed of the specific alkaloid(s) along with other compounds. All authors have none to declare. Authors are thankful to University of Delhi for providing the funds under Innovative Project (SVC-101). First two authors are undergraduate students and equally Calpain contributed in this review article. “
“Inflammation is a local response of living mammalian tissues to the injury. It is a body defense reaction in order to eliminate or limit the spread of injurious agents. There are various components to an inflammatory reaction that can contribute to the associated symptoms and tissue injury. Edema formation, leukocyte infiltration and granuloma formation represent such components of inflammation. However, it is related to infection caused

by microorganisms, and various pathological changes are associated with it.1 Drugs which are in use presently for the management of pain and inflammatory conditions are either narcotics e.g. opioids or non-narcotics e.g. salicylates and corticosteroids e.g. hydrocortisone. All of these drugs possess well-known side and toxic effects. Moreover, synthetic drugs are very expensive to develop and whose cost of development ranges from 0.5 to 5 million dollars. Therefore, new anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs lacking those effects are being searched all over the world as alternatives to NASIDs and opiates.2 On the contrary many medicines of plant origin had been used since long time without any adverse effects. Medicinal plants are believed to be an important source of new chemical substances with potential therapeutic effects.