Does the immune system of plant and animal kingdoms share any pathways or mechanisms of action in phytotherapy?

Phytotherapy, herbal remedies and dietary supplementation are recovering, to the present day, more and more attention from the scientific world of the Western countries not only in virtue of the antibiotic-resistance emerging problem or of the hypersensitivity towards some synthetic molecules typical of the conventional medicine, but also because the attention of the consumer/patient is increasingly oriented towards the respect for the environment and trusts the green economy as the only sustainable policy. However, even if various herbal remedies are recognized as antioxidant, antibacterial, anticancer and immunostimulant, the known functioning mechanisms of phytocomplexes are still scarse. Furthermore, the in vitro evaluation of the mechanisms of action of the single main components are frequently not able to reproduce the general effect linked to the intake of the phytocomplex in it’s entirely. In this article, hypothesizing that the key of the effectiveness of phytotherapy is due to the triggering of common pathways existing between the innate immune system of the plant and animal kingdom, it is wanted to try to give a general explanation to the functioning principle of phytotherapy in the animal world. In light of this theory, so as the route of administration of many vaccines (oral vs injection) has changed in the last few years due to the improved knowledge on the operting of mucosal immune system, similarly the therapeutic approach of some diseases could also be reconsidered.