Central Nervous System (CNS) Activity of Argyreia speciosa and Acorus calamus: A Review

Acorus calamus and Argyreia speciosa are useful medicinal plants which gave the varied effects on CNS. These plants have been tested in various animal models for testing their activity in the CNS disorders. There is always a need to clearly define the nature of CNS activity of new chemical entity (NCEs) or medicinal plants. This classification is important to categorized the CNS effects into: beneficial and adverse effects. Various animal models are enlisted using which the CNS effects of the Acorus calamus and Argyreia speciosa could be tested other than which is generally used in the review literature. An attempt have been made in this review to clearly classify the pre-clinical CNS effect of Acorus calamus and Argyreia speciosa using WHO classification (1967) of CNS active drugs. It is observed that there is lacuna in studies for clinical, toxicological and safety pharmacological evaluation of Acorus calamus and Argyreia speciosa. In the review literature there only few report of clinical studies of Acorus calamus whereas there is no such report of Argyreia speciosa. It is suggested that there should be conduct of clinical studies/trials to open the gate of use of these potential plants in the various humans CNS disorders. As little is known regarding adverse effects of Acorus calamus and Argyreia speciosa and their frequencies, the chronic exposure of these herbals may cause health risks. Hence, safety pharmacological core battery test shall be performed on Acorus calamus and Argyreia speciosa to establish them as efficacious and safe alternative for the CNS disorder. Moreover, the use of herbal medicines, as health promoting agents, in developed countries has also increased and this trend is continuing. Healthcare professionals need to be aware of the pharmacology of these herbal medicines in order to provide well informed advice to patients.