ROLE OF MUCUNA PRURIENS IN THE MANAGEMENT OF PARKINSON’S DISEASE

Abstract

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common progressive neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer's disease, affecting about 7 to 10 million patients worldwide. It is caused by degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in substantia nigra. The deficiency of dopamine in the basal ganglia leads to a movement disorder which is characterized by classical Parkinsonian motor symptoms which include bradykinesia, muscular rigidity and resting tremor as well as non-motor symptoms include olfactory dysfunction, cognitive impairment, psychiatric symptoms and autonomic dysfunction. Mucuna pruriens is an annual and perennial legume which belongs to the family Fabaceae having different types of therapeutic activity. It is widely utilized as a potent aphrodisiac. For this purpose, Google Scholar and PubMed were explored to obtain studies giving evidence for anti-parkinsonian activity and other pharmacological activities of Mucuna pruriens. Mucuna pruriens possesses different types of pharmacological activities. The neuroprotective activity and anti-Parkinsonian activity of Mucuna pruriens was explored by several researchers. Levodopa is the important constituents responsible for the anti-Parkinsonian activity of Mucuna pruriens. Apart from anti-parkinsonian activity, Mucuna pruriens possesses some most common pharmacological activities including Anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, aphrodisiac, hepatoprotective and improving semen quality etc. This review emphasizes the anti-parkinsonian role of Mucuna pruriens in the management of Parkinson's disease systematically through literature review available to date. Some other activities of Mucuna pruriens are also summarized in this review.