Pharmacological Activities of Natural Products

The medicinal plants and their products have a pharmaceutical uses , and there are numerous plants which although showed a pharmacological response . Some major pharmacological grouping involve drugs which act on the nervous system , heart & blood vessels , lungs , gastrointestinal , liver , reproductive organs , skin and mucous membranes ,other categories include hormones , Vitamins and Chemotherapeutic drugs used for the treatment of infections and malignant diseases .
Drugs Acting on the Nervous System : -
The Central Nervous System ( CNS ) : -
Some of the most useful natural drugs of the group are the narcotic analgesics ; a number of herbal drugs are popular sedative and others such as the hallucinogenic drugs have important sociological implications . ( table 6.1 , 6.2 )
The Heart , Circulation & Blood
Cardio active glycosides :
Many medicinal plants contain ( C23 or C24 ) steroidal glycosides which exert a slowing and strengthening effect on the failing heart . Like the glycosides of various digitalis species that are extensively employed .