Rauwolfia serpentina in the treatment of high blood pressure; a review of the literature.

The root of the Rauwolfia serpentina Benth (N. 0. Apocyanaciae) has been in use in India for hundreds of years for a host of unrelated ailments. Since 1949, after the English publication of a clinical report by the author on Rauwolfia serpentina therapy in fifty cases of essential hyperten-sion, the plant has gained universal acclamation as a useful therapeutic weapon in high blood pressure states. The whole subject of Rauwolfia serpentina therapy in hypertension has been reviewed up to the present time, including discussions on the history of the plant, its various species and types, nomenclature, geographic distribution, chemistry, pharmacologic actions and clinical studies, reported on the subject from all over the world. T HE plant rauwolfia is named after the German doctor and traveller Leonhard Rauwolf, who in 1582 published an account of his many travels. Roots of the plant Rauwolfia serpentina (Benith) have been recognized in India and the _Malay peninsula from ancient times as antidotes to the stings and bites of insects and poisonous reptiles. Mention of the plant is found in an old Hindu manuscript (1000 B.C.)128 as well as in the monumental works of Charaka (second century , A.D.), under the Sanskrit name of "sarpagandha." It has also been used as a febrifugue, as a stimulant to uterine contractions , for diarrhea, dysentery, insomnia and insanity. For just over two decades, its clinical application has been extended with success to the treatment of high blood pressure .132 R. Serpentina or the serpentina plant is a large climbing or twininig herb or shrub, belonging to the natural order Apocyanaceae, and the Malay peninsula. It is variously known as sarpagandha (from ancient times), chandrika