Neuropharmacological Effects of Ocimum Basilicum

Ocimum basilicum (OB), known as sweet basil, is a popular Chinese medicinal herb of the family Labiatae. It is a perennial plant with yellow, white, and violet flowers, and oval leaves which have a sharp tip. It has been reported to contain a number of interesting compounds, such as mono-terpenoids, sesquiterpenoid, triterpenoid (ursolic acid) and flavonoid. Ocimum basilicum and other species of the same genus areused as medicines for the treatment of central nervous system (CNS) diseases and the essential oil of Ocimum basilicum. (OB) was screened for some CNS activities and used to treat headaches, diarrhea, helminthes infestation, inflammation, and pain. We searched theliterature available in Scopus, PubMed and Science Direct databases for English articles published until 1990.For this purpose, we used 5 keywords for R. damascena, 3 for animal models and 7 for nervous system disorders. In this article we summarized neurofarmacological effects of Ocimum basilicum. There are not many studies have been done on the effects of this plant on the nervous system but these studies shown that ocimum basilicum used for the treatment of anxiety, nerve pain, convulsions and a varietyof neurodegenerative disorders. In addition, we believed ocimum basilicum have been several effects on the central nervous system, such as anti-seizure, analgesic and antiinflammatory effects. The present review aimed to shown neurofarmacological effects of the plant on nervoussystem. Due to its inhibitory effects on the production of inflammatory mediators such as prostaglandins it can use to treatment nervous system disorders.