Liver tonics: review of plants used in Iranian traditional medicine

• Published in: Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine
• Main Authors: Tahmineh Akbarzadeh, Reyhaneh Sabourian, Mina Saeedi, Hossein Rezaeizadeh, Mahnaz Khanavi, Mohammad Reza Shams Ardekani
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2015
• Subjects: Iranian traditional medicine; Liver tonic; Hepatoprotective agents; Herbal medicine; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Biology (General); QH301-705.5; Arctic; Isi
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2221-1691(15)30002-2; https://doaj.org/article/de3fa48bc6b84f3dbe68b57effaa56d1

Considering the fact that liver is one of the most important organs in our body, it deserves special attention and protection. Among various recommended supplements, complementary and alternative medicines particularly herbal remedies have received much attention owing to their truly healing properties. This review profits from Iranian traditional medicine and presents advantageous herbal guide directions for liver protection. According to credible Iranian medical literature such as Al Qanun Fil Tibb, Al-Havi and Makhzan-al-Aadvia, a wide spectrum of plants have been found to be useful for cleansing and protecting the liver. Some herbs such as ghafes (Agrimonia eupatoria), kasni (Cichorium intybus), anar (Punica granatum), darchin (Cinnamomum zeylanicum), za'feran (Crocus sativus), gole-sorkh (Rosa damascena) and zereshk (Berberis vulgaris) appeared to get strong consideration and were well documented as outstanding liver tonics. We conducted a comprehensive review of available Iranian medical resources such as scientific information database and medical sciences databases which cover all in vitro and in vivo studies of medicinal plants as liver tonics and hepatoprotective candidates. Literature survey was accomplished using multiple databases including PubMed, ISI web of knowledge, and Google Scholar.