Plants acting on the central nervous system: review plantas com acao no sistema nervoso central que constam na relacao nacional de plantas medicinais de interesse ao Sus (renisus)

ABSTRACT

Depression is a serious disease that affects the general population, epidemiological studies estimate that the prevalence of depression throughout life in Brazil is around 15.5%. The factors that trigger the onset of depression include social, psychological, biological and also specific external factors such as stressful events, loneliness, alcohol and drug consumption, chronic diseases and giving birth (postpartum depression). The objective of the present research was to carry out a literature review on the main medicinal plants with antidepressant action. Anxiety has become one of the main problems of today, being intensified by the pandemic caused by the coronavirus, where it was found that during the peak of the pandemic where confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Brazil rose from 45,757 to 330,890, and deaths, from 2,906 to 21,048, the feeling of sadness/depression reached 40% of Brazilian adults. Symptoms of depression can be alleviated when synaptic availability of monoamines is increased, and this increase can occur through decreased metabolization of these neurotransmitters. In this sense, the use of antidepressants that make monoamines available in the synaptic cleft is sought through pharmacotherapy. The choice of drug is based on symptoms of depression and good response to a particular class of antidepressants. In February 2009, the Ministry of Health launched the National List of Medicinal Plants of Interest to the SUS (RENISUS), containing 71 plant species that are distributed in natura form in basic health units (UBS). Of these, only three species have antidepressant and anxiolytic effects proven in the literature, being Matricharia chamomilla, Erytrinum mulungu and Passiflora incarnata, which are also part of RENISUS. In addition to these, other species such as Melissa officinalis, Lippia alba, Valeriana officinalis and Piper methysticum are used by the population to treat anxiety, insomnia and depression, thus suggesting that these species are included in RENISUS.