Table 5 Summary of published ethnopharmacological uses, side effects, in vivo and in vitro activity of the most frequently used plants against psoriasis
Plant species | Reported ethnopharmacological use with reference source | In vivo and in vitro activity against psoriasis with reference source | Side effects and toxicity with reference source |
|---|---|---|---|
Aloe vera | The plant was used in folk medicine for the treatment of psoriasis in South Africa [34], Turkey [35], Pakistan [36], India [37], Middle East [38], Palestine [17, 39] and Mexico [40]. | Hydrophilic cream and gel of Aloe vera were tried and showed significant improvement against psoriasis in a randomized clinical trial [24, 25]. In another study, topical Aloe vera with 0.1% triamcinolone acetonide was used in mild to moderate plaque psoriasis. Aloe showed its ability to reduce the clinical symptoms of psoriasis [41]. Aloe extract showed anti-psoriatic activity of 81.95%, compared with 87.94 for tazarotene in the mouse tail model of psoriasis [42]. | Localized side effects including dryness, stinging, soreness, fissures, erythema and contact urticaria may develop after using topical Aloe [25, 43, 44]. |
Trigonella arabica | The plant was used in ethnomedicine for treatment of psoriasis in Palestine [45] and Pakistan [46]. | No reference | No reference |
Catharanthus roseus | No reference | C. roseus reduced the expression of psoriatic marker, keratin 17 (K17) in human keratinocytes [47]. | No reference |
Anthemis cotula | No reference | No reference | Contact sensitization [48]. |