Abstract
Chronic inflammation has become an integral part of man’s suffering. Although the etiology of inflammatory diseases is still unclear, evidence shows that it is multifactorial involving several proinflammatory cytokines, chemokines, free radicals, and other regulators of the immune system. Environmental, genetic and epigenetic factors have also been shown to play key roles in the pathogenesis of inflammatory diseases. Conventional drugs such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs), glucocorticoids and biological agents are used to manage the symptoms but are unable to deal with the underlying causes. Also, they have many serious adverse reactions. To deal with this, many alternatives have been suggested and among them, plant-based secondary metabolites (SM) stands out. The aim of this review therefore, is to make an inventory of secondary metabolites of plants from Africa and China that are used to treat inflammatory diseases focusing on rheumatoid arthritis (RA), asthma and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Also, the possible mechanisms of these SM will be highlighted. Finally, active compounds isolated from these plants that regulate specific inflammatory mediators will be summarized.
Keywords: Asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenes, traditional medicine.
Graphical Abstract
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