US EPA

6797560 

Journal Article 

Review 

An overview of plant-based interventions to ameliorate arsenic toxicity 

Susan, A; Rajendran, K; Sathyasivam, K; Krishnan, UM 

2019 

Yes 

Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy
ISSN: 0753-3322
EISSN: 1950-6007 

109 

838-852 

English 

30551538 

10.1016/j.biopha.2018.10.099 

WOS:000452539100094 

The industrial and technological advancements in the world have also contributed to the rapid deterioration in the environment quality through introduction of obnoxious pollutants that threaten to destroy the subtle balance in the ecosystem. The environment contaminants cause severe adverse effects to humans, flora and fauna that are mostly irreversible. Chief among these toxicants is arsenic, a metalloid, which is considered among the most dangerous environmental toxins that leads to various diseases which affect the quality of life even when present in small quantities. Treatment of arsenic-mediated disorders still remains a challenge due to lack of effective options. Chelation therapy has been the most widely used method to detoxify arsenic. But this method is associated with deleterious effects leading various toxicities such as hepatotoxicity, neurotoxicity and other adverse effects. It has been discovered that indigenous drugs of plant origin display effective and progressive relief from arsenic-mediated toxicity without any side-effects. Further, these phytochemicals have also been found to aid the elimination of arsenic from the biological system and therefore can be more effective than conventional therapeutic agents in ameliorating arsenic-mediated toxicity. This review presents an overview of the toxic effects of arsenic and the therapeutic strategies that are available to mitigate the toxic effects with emphasis on chelation as well as protective and detoxifying activities of different phytochemicals and herbal drugs against arsenic. This information may serve as a primer in identifying novel prophylactic as well as therapeutic formulations against arsenic-induced toxicity.