Various medicinal plants find their use in cough treatment, based on traditions and long-term experience. Pharmacological principles of their action, however, are much less known. Herbal drugs usually contain a mixture of potentially active compounds, which can manifest diverse effects. Expectorant or antitussive effects, which can be accompanied by others, such as anti-inflammatory or antibacterial, are probably the most important in the treatment of coughs. The aim of this review is to summarize the current state of knowledge of the effects of medicinal plants or their constituents on cough, based on reliable pharmacological studies. First, a comprehensive description of each effect is provided in order to explain the possible mechanism of action in detail. Next, the results related to individual plants and substances are summarized and critically discussed based on pharmacological in vivo and in vitro investigation.

• Klíčová slova
• Anti-inflammatory, Antibacterial, Antitussive, Antiviral, Cough, Expectorant, Herbal drugs, Mechanism of action, Medicinal plants, Phytotherapy,
• MeSH
• antitusika * farmakologie   MeSH
• expektorancia farmakologie   MeSH
• fytoterapie MeSH
• kašel farmakoterapie   MeSH
• léčivé rostliny * MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• rostlinné extrakty farmakologie   MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• přehledy MeSH
• Názvy látek
• antitusika * MeSH
• expektorancia MeSH
• rostlinné extrakty MeSH