Experimental Myocardial Ischemia in Rats : Protective Effects of Bioflavonoids

Healthy human life is always cardinal for human being starting from his birth to end of the life. The number of diseases plays a key role in disturbing the healthy human life. Along with modernisation as well as sophistication in the life, human health is facing challenges from several diseases. Myocardial ischemia (MI) is one of the main causes of death from ischemic heart diseases. MI has emerged as a major health problem and will persist as the most common threat to human life. Several anti-ischemic drugs that are available lag behind the desired properties such as efficacy and safety on long term use as well as cost. Plants are the mines of bioactive extrolites that might serve as lead for the development of effective, safer and cheap novel drugs. A number of plants have shown their beneficial effects on MI. Noteworthy, flavonoids have been acknowledged for their unique antioxidant properties, and possess multifaceted activities that are relevant to ischemia. It is expected that this book could provide a scientific basis for the use of flavonoid rich medicinal plants in particular Acalypha indica for the development of drug leads that ameliorate the complications of MI.