Potential of Ficus religiosa Linn. Flavonoids in Management of Allergic Asthma

Humans have been using medicinal plants as a source of medicine for thousands of years. Truth be told, ancient man was completely reliant on plants for all of his medical needs, including recovery, prevention, and other types of medications, and has done so for millennia. Many plants and herbs hold their prestigious position in the field of medicine among which Ficus religiosa belonging to the family Moraceae is the vital one. Recent studies have reported that Ficus religiosa is used in the traditional medicine to relieve about 50 types of disorders including diabetes, diarrhoea, epilepsy inflammatory disorders, and gastric problems, sexual and infectious disorders. Antihistaminic principles are known to be useful in the treatment of asthma; hence, in the present work, the antihistaminic activity of an ethanol extract of Ficus religiosa was assessed using various methods. The results showed that the ethanol fractions inhibits clonidine-induced catalepsy as well as asthmatic inflammation. This suggests that the inhibition is through an antihistaminic action and that there is no role of dopamine. Hence, we concluded that the ethanol extract has significant antihistaminic activity. The flavonoid derivatives identified from ethanol fractions of leaves of Ficus religiosa may showed potential as a antihistaminic activity. So in future the plant Ficus religiosa isolated these flavonoids may lead significant role in the treatment of asthma.