Abstract

A REVIEW ON MEDICINAL PLANTS AS NEPHROPROTECTIVE AGENTS

Keyur V. Shastri* and Shivani Ashok Shelke

ABSTRACT

Nephrotoxicity is described as the usually occurring kidney hassle that is due to any drug or toxin. A wide range of therapeutic agents can adversely affect the kidney which results in acute kidney injury, kidney infection and nephritic syndrome because of an increase in the number of potent therapeutic drugs like antibiotics, chemotherapeutic agents and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents. Nephroprotective agents are those substances which show preventive activity against nephrotoxicity. The medicinal plants have protective properties due to the presence of various chemical substances. A phytotherapeutic or phytomedicine approach to modern drug development can provide many promising drugs from traditional medicinal plants. Various plants and polyherbal formulations are used for the treatment of kidney diseases. The extracts of natural products and antioxidants present in the plants have been reported to show protective effects against nephrotoxicity. The present review is about different medicinal plants that have shown potent nephroprotective effect due their antioxidant, diuretic, anti-inflammatory and antispasmodic properties.

Keywords: Nephroprotective, nephrotoxicity mechanism, risk factors, herbals.