Rauvolfia serpentina
Rauvolfia serpentina, the Indian snakeroot, devil pepper, serpentine wood, Sarpagandha or Chandrika, is a species of flower in the milkweed family Apocynaceae. It is native to the Indian subcontinent and East Asia.
Rauvolfia is a perennial undershrub widely distributed in India in the sub-Himalayan regions up to.
Sarpagandha is used in folk medicine in India for centuries to treat a wide variety of maladies, including snake and insect bites, febrile conditions, malaria, abdominal pain, and dysentery. It was also used as a uterine stimulant, febrifuge, and cure for insanity. The plant was mentioned in Hindu manuscripts as long ago as 1000 BCE.Rauvolfia serpentina contains dozens of alkaloids of the indole alkaloid family, including ajmaline, ajmalicine, reserpine, and serpentine, among others.Research
A 2016 review found that reserpine reduced systolic blood pressure by about 8 mmHg compared to placebo, and may be as effective at reducing SBP as other front-line hypertensive drugs, although more research is needed to determine a dose-specific safety profile.R. serpentina may cause adverse effects by interacting with various prescription drugs or via interference with mechanisms of mental depression or peptic ulcer. The reserpine in R. serpentina is associated with diverse adverse effects, including vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness, headache, anxiety, or hypersensitivity reactions.