For D.Pharm Part - I Students. Unit V - Anti-hypertensive

1. ANTI - HYPERTENSIVE
Prep ared By: M s . Div ya Kan oj iya
As s istant Profes s or in P h arm aco gn o sy
Dep artment o f Ph armacy, Suman d eep V id yap eeth
Deemed to b e Un ivers ity, Pip aria, Vad od ara .
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Content:
 B I O LO G I C A L S O U R C E , C H E M I C A L
C O N S T I T U E N T S A N D T H E R A P E U T I C
E F F I C A C Y O F R AU W O L F I A .

3. RAUWOLFIA
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4. • Synonyms: Sarpagandha, Chandrika; Chootachand; Indian snake root.
• Biological Source: Rauwolfia consists of dried roots of Rauwolfia serpentina
Benth., belonging to family Apocynaceae.
• Geographical Source:
• It is an erect, evergreen, small shrub native to the Orient and occurs from
India to Sumatra. It is also found in Burma, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam,
Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan and Java.
• In India it occurs in the sub-Himalayan tracts from Sirhind eastwards to
Assam, especially in Dehradun, Siwalik range, Rohelkhand, Gorakhpur
ascending to 1,300 m, east and west ghats of Tamil Nadu, in Bihar (Patna
and Bhagalpur), Konkan, Karnataka and Bengal.
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5. MORPHOLOGY:
• Size: 2-10 cm long, 5-22 mm in diameter
• Shape: Cylindrical, Tapering or Tortuous
species
• Colour: Greyish yellow or yellowish
brown
• Odour: Slight odour is felt in recently
dried drug which decreases with age.
• Taste: Bitter
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Figure: Root and twig of Rauwolfia serpentine

6. MICROSCOPY:
• Following are the tissues seen trom the periphery to the centre.
• PERIDERM
• Cork stratified consists of alternating bands of smaller, suberized and un-
lignified cells upto 8-10 rows in radial depth and-of larger, suberized but
lignified cells upto 5-7 rows in radial depth.
• Phellogen indistinct but is seen as a narrow layer of thin walled cells.
• Phelloderm 5-7 layers, immediately below the phellem, cells are arranged
in radial rows whereas away from phellem, cells are oval and have
intercellular spaces. Phelloderm contains abundant starch grains (with
triradiate hilum) and typical twin prisms of calcium oxalate. 6

7. • SECONDARY PHLOEM
• It is traversed by conspicuous medullary rays. Phloem consists of sieve tubes,
companion cells and phloem parenchyma. Starch grains and calcium oxalate
prisms (as twins and in groups) occur throughout the phloem tissue.
• SECONDARY XYLEM
• It is also traversed by well developed medullary rays. Xylem consists of vessels,
wood fibres and lignified parenchyma. The vessels appear rounded polygonal or
at times radially elongated and occur either single or in pairs. Xylem fibres
appear as rounded or polygonal structures with thick lignified walls. Typical
oxalate prisms and starch grains resembling those of the phelloderm and
phloem occur freely in the wood parenchyma.
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8. • MEDULLARY RAYS
• It is run radially from the centre to the cortex through the phloem.
Rays in the xylem region are lignified, pitted and are 1-5 cells wide
although uniseriate rays are prominent. In the phloem region the ray
cells are not lignified. Starch and typical oxalate prisms are present in
the medullary ray cells.
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Figure: Transverse section of of Rauwolfia serpentine

10. CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS:
1. Rauwolfia contains about 0.7–2.4% total alkaloidal bases from which
more than 80 alkaloids have been isolated.
2. The prominent alkaloids isolated from the drug are reserpine,
rescinnamine, ψ-reserpine, rescidine, raubescine and deserpidine.
3. The other alkaloidal components are ajmalinine, ajmaline, ajmalicine
(8-yohimbine), serpentine, serpentinine, tetrahydroreserpine,
raubasine, reserpinine, isoajamaline and yohambinine.
4. The other substances present are phytosterols, fatty acids,
unsaturated alcohols and sugars.
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13. USES:
1. Rauwolfia in used as hypnotic, sedative and antihypertensive. It is
specific for insanity, reduces blood pressure and cures pain due to
affections of the bowels.
2. It is given in labours to increase uterine contractions and in certain
neuropsychiatric disorders.
3. Ajmaline, which has pharmacological properties similar to those of
quinidine, is marketed in Japan for the treatment of cardiac
arrhythmias.
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14. MARKETED PRODUCTS:
• It is one of the ingredients of the preparations known as Confido,
Lukol, Serpina (Himalaya Drug Company) and Sarpagandhan bati
(Baidyanath).
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15. Thank you!
IT’S BETTER TO BE UNIQUE THAN THE BEST
BECAUSE BEING THE BEST MAKES YOU THE
NUMBER ONE BUT BEING UNIQUE
MAKES YOU THE ONLY ONE.
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