Title:Herbal Medicine: Clinical Perspective and Regulatory Status
Volume: 24
Issue: 10
Author(s): Md. Abul Barkat*, Anjali Goyal, Harshita A. Barkat, Mohammad Salauddin, Faheem H. Pottoo and Esra T. Anwer
Affiliation:
- Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, University of Hafr Al Batin, Al Jamiah, Hafr Al Batin 39524,Saudi Arabia
Keywords:
Phytomedicine, herbal medicine, phytotherapeutics, pharmaceutical industry, regulatory challenges, toxicity.
Abstract: Herbal medicines play an important role in treating various ailments due to their
potentially high therapeutic values and acceptability by patients with different health complications.
The practice of herbal medicine involves the use of a part of a plant, the entire plant, or a selective
isolated phytoconstituent. The search for new drugs during the scientific era revived the interest in
the discovery of herbal drugs from different natural resources. The present modern healthcare system
involves the utilization of drugs and 50% of them are of natural origin. In recent years, there had
been an upsurge in the interest for search of novel herbal drugs by the pharmaceutical industry.
However, the discovery of such new novel phytomedicines involves various challenges in the
identification of active constituents; their characterization, pharmacological activity, toxicity/adverse
effects, drug interactions, and, most importantly, their regulatory requirements. The present review is
mainly focused on the history of herbal medicine, current clinical perspective, and pharmaceutical
and regulatory challenges facing herbal drugs. Moreover, problems encountered in drug discovery
from herbal resources and their possible solutions have been delineated.