Immunomodulatory Effect of Cardiospermum Halicacabum against Cancer

The immune system is known to be involved in the etiology as well as pathophysiological mechanisms of many diseases Traditional medicine gives emphasis on the promotion of health a concept of strengthening host defenses against different diseases. Rasayana plants are particularly recommended for the treatment of an immune disorder, Ayurveda may play an important role in modern health care, particularly where satisfactory treatment is not available. Development of agents, capable of moving a patient's immune systems from a state of immune deficiency to normal function, would be able to a significant impact on a patient's disease condition. Such an agent would not be a cure but would control the manifestation and course of the disease. Natural Products, especially from plants, have been used for the treatment of various diseases for thousands of years.

Countries such as China, Egypt, India, Greece, and Sri Lanka have practiced the use of herbs as medicines from ancient times and an impressive number of modern drugs have been developed from them. Natural products serve as one source of structurally novel chemicals and are expected to be fruitful for investigation in medicine. Balloon vine plant (botanical name: Cardiospermum Halicacabum) has various pharmacological actions like antioxidant, anti-viral, anti-diabetic, anti-convulsing, anti-diarrheal, anticancer, fertility, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, and etc. Due to the presence of constituents such as beta-sitosterol and its D-glucoside, an alkaloid, oxalic acid, amino acids, saponin, quebrachitol, erucic acid, oleic acid, eicosonic acid, octanoic acid, n-hexadecanoic acid and rich in tri-terpenoids, therefore these herbs could be valuable for the development of commercial drugs