Produtos naturais com potencial ação anti-inflamatória e antioxidante no tratamento da asma: uma revisão integrativa

Abstract

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease that affects the airways of patients of all ages, affecting more than 300 million people worldwide and causing around 250 deaths annually. Characterized by hyperproduction of mucus, airway remodeling and bronchial hyperresponsiveness, allergic asthma is considered a pathological process with a Th2 inflammatory profile, with synthesis of immunoglobulin E (IgE) and different interleukins, such as IL-4, IL-5 and IL-13. In addition, associated with the inflammatory component, there is an increase in oxidative stress, determined by the imbalance between free radicals and antioxidant components, leading to exacerbation of airway inflammation. Thus, both factors contribute to the pathophysiology of allergic asthma. Given this scenario, there is a need to search for new therapeutic alternatives that reduce inflammation and/or oxidative stress for the treatment of allergic asthma. In this context, the use of medicinal plants emerges as a therapeutic approach for this disorder. Therefore, the aim of this study was to conduct an integrative review of the literature covering the last 10 years, in order to list the relationship between different natural products and their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant actions as potential therapeutic alternatives for the treatment of asthma. For this purpose, the PubMed, Web of Science and Embase databases were used, using the following descriptors: “natural products”, “asthma”, “anti-inflammatory” and “antioxidant”, in English. Thus, according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 32 articles were selected for this review, and as a result, it was possible to observe that the natural products evaluated, such as flavonoids, alkaloids and saponins, in addition to several extracts obtained from medicinal plants, mostly obtained significant anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects in the treatment of asthma using animal models. Therefore, this review contributes to the development of new treatments or complementary therapies for asthma, acting as reference material and guide for health professionals and researchers in the field.