Pratap Singh Akhand, Rajender Singh
Central Drug Research Institute, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Lucknow, UP, India.
Front Biosci (Schol Ed). 2012 Jan 1;4(1):167-80. doi: 10.2741/s259.
The area of natural product research is rapidly progressing from traditional medicine to modern medicine having proper scientific basis of its usage. However, identifying the active constituent or the basis of its mechanism holds the key to synthesis of these drugs in the laboratory. Traditional Indian literature such as Ayurveda has listed several plant and animal based resources for treatment of almost every ailment. Erectile dysfunction and male sexual debilities are among the most explored areas in traditional medicine. A number of natural products, mostly plant based, have been claimed to cure erectile dysfunction and related male sexual debilities. These products often are aphrodisiac and have multi-fold effects on male reproductive system. This review aims at compiling the animal and plant based resources which bear promise of treating loss of libido and erectile dysfunction. A special emphasis is paid to find out scientific basis of their usage. The identification of potential resources could help undertake further studies to establish their possible mechanism of action; opening the doors to proper clinical trials for human use.
天然产物研究领域正在迅速从传统医学发展到具有适当使用科学依据的现代医学。然而，确定活性成分或其作用机制的基础是在实验室合成这些药物的关键。传统的印度文献如阿育吠陀列出了几种基于植物和动物的资源，用于治疗几乎所有疾病。勃起功能障碍和男性性功能衰退是传统医学中研究最多的领域之一。许多天然产物，大多是植物性的，据称可以治愈勃起功能障碍和相关的男性性功能衰退。这些产品通常是壮阳药，对男性生殖系统有多重作用。本综述旨在汇编有望治疗性欲减退和勃起功能障碍的动植物资源。特别强调找出其使用的科学依据。确定潜在资源有助于进行进一步研究，以确定其可能的作用机制；为人类的适当临床试验打开大门。
