The most important herbs used in the treatment of sexually transmitted infections in traditional medicine

Abstract

Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) or venereal diseases are transmitted through various methods of sexual intercourse (oral, vaginal, and anal). The predisposition to this type of diseases and infections depends on the immunity system of the body, so the lower the immunity system’s strength, the greater the risk of Sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The most important pathogenic causes of STIs include bacteria, viruses, and parasites. Phytochemical investigations have shown that medicinal plants are a rich source of antioxidant compounds, biologically active compounds, phenols, etc. They can have an inhibitory effect on germs and infectious viruses and are very important for a variety of parasitic diseases, microbial infections, and STIs. Some of the most important medicinal plants that produce inhibitory effects on the growth and proliferation of pathogenic agents of the STIs were reported in the present article. Based on the results obtained from the review of numerous articles indexed in the databases the Institute for Scientific Information, Scopus, PubMed, Google Scholar, etc., a number of plants have been reported to be used in the treatment and prevention of genital tract diseases and STIs, and to produce antiviral and antimicrobial effects, including Taxillus, Aristolochia, Syzygium cumini, Albizia adianthifolia, Bidens pilosa, Carica papaya, Ranunculus, Peltophorum africanum, Vachellia karroo, Rhoicissus tridentate, Houttuynia cordata, Panax notoginseng, Nelumbo nucifera, Astragalus, Hypericum aethiopicum, Spondias mombin, Jatropha zeyheri, Ximenia caffra, Trichilia dregeana, Clematis brachiate, Tabernaemontana, Sarcophyton. Phytochemical investigations have examined the therapeutic and clinical effects of medicinal plants, and the use of their active ingredients to produce herbal drugs has been addressed. The results of phytochemical investigations have shown that the most important compounds of these plants include quercetin, isoquercitrin, Dammarane-type saponin, flavonoids, alkaloids, flavonoids, glycosides, terpenoids, steroids, astragalosides, flavonoids and polysaccharides, α-pinene, β-pinene, α-pinene, quercetin, myricetin and luteolin flavonoids, β-pinene, 1,3,8-p-menthatriene, ledene, m-menthane, linalyl acetate and  3-carene. β-sitosterol, lupeol, lupeol, sitosterol, spathulenol, β-sitostenone, ?-sitosterol, stigmasterol. Due to the main active ingredients and flavonoids of these plants, they can be used to produce herbal drugs that reduce genital tract (microbial, viral, and fungal) infections and STIs, and therefore reduce pain and suffering in patients.

Keywords: sexually transmitted infections, genital tract infections, antibacterial and antiviral medicinal plants, medicinal plants, natural antioxidants