Immunomodulatory Mechanistic Potentials of Herbals

Abstract

In the medicinal system of Ayurveda, several plants have been used for the treatment of various illnesses due to their biological effects exerted by specific constituents present in them. It incorporates holistic approaches for the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. Also referred to as natural or traditional medicines, herbal medicine has endured through vari-ous cultures and civilizations. Due to various lifestyle changes and environmental factors, there is a deteriorating effect on the immunity of individuals. Remedy for several issues can be found in nature, which has proven to be of lesser side effects as well as cost-effec-tive. Immunomodulators are one of the therapeutically used categories of plants or their based drugs that are capable of inducing, stimulating, or suppressing any immune system component, which can affect both innate and adaptive immune responses. The objective of this paper is to highlight various Ayurvedic or herbal plants and their immunomodulatory constituents. Ongoing clinical trials on a few of the herbal plants have also been included. Moreover, the mode of action and plant origin, including other uses of numerous promi-nent plant-based lead compounds, has also been extensively discussed.