an overview of cardiotonic medicinal plants from the perspective of iranian traditional medicine

Context: cardiovascular disorders are a leading cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide, especially in people with diabetes. due to synthetic drugs’ adverse e ects, new medicines are needed.evidence acquisition: iranian traditional medicine (itm) is one of the oldest medical systems. in this article, we first introduce a list of cardiotonic medicinal plants based on itm. then we review the cardio-related e ects of these plants based on electronic databases.results: among the introduced medicinal plants from itm, phyllanthus emblica l., rosa canina l., ocimum basilicum l., and melissa oÿcinalis l. have cardiotonic e ects. also, p. emblica, o. basilicum, m. oÿcinalis, citrus medica l., malus domestica borkh., elettaria car-damomum (l.) maton, and r. canina have cardioprotective e ects and possess several biological activities that reduce cardiovascular disease risk factors.conclusions: the cardiotonic medicinal plants based on itm have excellent value; several pharmacological studies have proved some of their cardioprotective and cardiotonic e ects. the other plants’ potential for improving the heart’s contractile power as a cardiotonic drug must be evaluated in further pharmacological and clinical studies.