Mucoactive herbal drugs in complex therapy of acute respiratory diseases

The major etiological factors that influence the development of acute respiratory diseases include various viral and bacterial agents that possess a high tropism for the respiratory epithelium. These diseases are known to be medical conditions that are associated with similar clinical signs and symptoms, as well as a pronounced range of degrees of severity and development of the disease complications. Cough is a prevalent clinical symptom in the clinical picture of ARD. For the treatment of cough, it is advisable to use drugs that have a complex effect: expectorant, secretolytic, bronchospasmolytic and anti-inflammatory. Herbal drugs have a reflex expectorant effect. When taken orally, they irritate the stomach receptors, bronchial gland secretion is enhanced reflexively, the ciliated epithelium activity is increased, and the bronchial tree smooth muscle contractions are intensified. The sputum becomes thinner and is cleared from the lungs more easily. Combinations of two or more medicinal herbs that complement or enhance each other's action are often used. It should be noted that such combination makes it possible to achieve a complex therapeutic effect i.e. anti-inflammatory, as well as mucolytic and secretolytic. It is preferable to prescribe mucoactive herbal drugs at the initial stage of the disease due to their multicomponent action, as well as good tolerability and high efficiency. Both Bronchipret (syrup) and Bronchipret TP (tablets) fully possess all these properties. The article presents the main mechanisms of action of the active substances of the drug, discusses the main points of “application” of pharmacological activity in the treatment of acute respiratory diseases with cough, and shows new targets for its use, taking into account new experimental and clinical evidence on antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2.

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