Current Traditional Medicine - Volume 10, Issue 2, 2024

Osteoarthritis is widely acknowledged as the most common, devastating, and diverse ailment that wreaks havoc on people's lives across the world. In the elderly, it is estimated that 10% of males and 18% of women over the age of 60 are affected and its frequency and incidence are increasing in the present scenario. Herbal medicines appear to be safe and effective with antiosteoarthritic effects that help in increased alleviation of symptoms and/or impairment and consist of numerous phytochemicals that have been scientifically verified and confirmed with antiosteoarthritic activity. Currently, there is no definitive cure for osteoarthritis, and there are no effective therapies that can stop or halt the progression of the disease. However, there are a variety of therapies available, ranging from new to old. Intra-articular injections, topical treatments, and oral medicines are altogether FDA-approved replacements for surgery. These all modes of treatment may prove fatal sometimes and are not always successful. Herbal medicines have been utilized worldwide for the treatment of osteoarthritis. This review mainly focuses on the treatment approach of osteoarthritis with the herbal medicines available, because of the side effects and toxicities, and unwanted symptoms of the present treatments.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a developing worldwide issue. Traditionally, different plants have been used throughout history to lower blood glucose and improve the impact of diabetes. Also, today, many natural products have been introduced to lower blood glucose in T2DM patients. The beneficial effects of genistein, the most essential and abundant isoflavone of soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.), on blood glucose and other metabolic indicators, as well as diabetesrelated complications, have been widely investigated. In the current narrative review, through a thorough search from "2013-2020" in "PubMed", "Scopus", "ResearchGate", 128;œGoogle Scholar128;, and "Web of Science" databases, we have retrieved, reviewed, and summarized all clinical trials, as well as in vitro and in vivo studies on the anti-diabetic potential of genistein.

Elaeocarpaceae comprises of 615 species in 12 genera which belongs to angiosperm. It is a tropical and subtropical family with few genera extending into the temperate zone. The genus Elaeocarpus consists of about 350 species distributed through Eastern Asia and the Pacific region. Around 2 genera and 33 species of the family are distributed in India. Elaeocarpus floribundus (family: Elaeocarpaceae), commonly known as Indian olive, is famous for its fruits and their medicinal uses. Traditionally local people use leaves for rheumatism, fruits for dysentery and diarrhea and infusion of the bark and leaves are used as mouthwash for inflamed gum. The researchers are attracted to the plant due to its various pharmacological properties like antioxidative capacity, antimicrobial, antihistaminic, antidiarrheal, etc., of different extracts of this plant. The review also aimed to study the morphological characterization and presence of phytochemicals like phenolics, flavonoids, alkaloids, proteins, and carbohydrates. A domain in which the plant has ability to treat cancer, diabetes and infectious diseases. The ethnobotanical and pharmacological data would enable a comprehensive study of the Indian olive.

Several Premna species can be found over the entire tropical and subtropical regions of Australia, Asia, and Africa. Many conventional herbal preparations using P. integrifolia (Lamiaceae) have been reported for their potential health advantages. The P. integrifolia is taxonomically ambiguous because of the wide variation in specimens obtained from various geographic locations. The plant is extensively used to treat immune-related disorders, skin conditions, inflammatory conditions, and stomach issues. The root of P. integrifolia is broadly utilized in the manufacture of Ayurvedic pharmaceutical products, such as Dasamula Kvatha and Chayawanprash Avaleha. It has also been identified to have antibacterial, hepatoprotective, and antifungal properties. The current study aims to investigate the antioxidant and cytotoxic activity of P. integrifolia against various cancers, as well as its antiinflammatory activity, antidiabetic, cardiac-stimulant, anti-obesity, hepatoprotective, immunomodulatory, analgesic, antiarthritic, antiparasitic, and wound healing activity, as well as the presence of various secondary metabolites in different parts of the plant used in a variety of formulations.

Background: Depression is a crippling mental disorder with high prevalence around the world. The available clinical antidepressants have been effective to a certain degree, and different side effects have limited their application. This leads to the necessity of finding new treatments. Herbal plants are a substantial source of new drug leads. Terpenoid compounds are secondary metabolites representing an enormous category of structures found commonly in plants either as aglycones or attached to sugar moieties. These phytochemicals have been extensively studied for their various biological effects, and several have been investigated for potential therapeutic effects in the treatment of depression.Aim: This review aims to highlight the current knowledge on some terpenoids and triterpenoid saponins as potential antidepressant agents and their mechanisms of action, which may provide a better understanding of the potential antidepressant-like effects of these compounds and lead to the development of auspicious molecules with high efficiency and low side effects for depressive disorders treatment.Methods: A total of 16 plants containing antidepressant agents are reviewed in this article. 9 terpenoids and 23 triterpenoid saponins compounds have been reported to becommonly found in plant extracts, indicating potential use for depression. To enhance the datum of this review, the mechanism of action for the candidate compounds has been predicted via functional enrichment analysis.Results: The behavioural and neurochemical effects, as well as the possible mechanisms of action, have been evaluated in rodents by different predictive models of depression, mainly the acute stress models of the forced swimming test (FST) and tail suspension test (TST). The involved mechanisms include enhancing monoamine neurotransmitters, ameliorating brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and normalizing the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Preclinical studies support the potential antidepressant activities of some terpenoid compounds. Furthermore, the functional enrichment analysis has confirmed the previous pre-clinical findings and predicted further mechanisms of action, including cellular calcium ion homeostasis, cellular response to dopamine, endocrine resistance, and regulating GABAergic, serotonergic, glutamatergic, and dopaminergic synapse, bedsides neurotransmitter reuptake.Conclusion: Terpenoids and triterpenoid saponins provide a large number of natural compounds. This review sheds light on terpenoids and triterpenoid saponins compounds with antidepressantlike activity and their potential mechanisms of action. However, more evaluations are required to confirm that these compounds are promising for discovering antidepressant drugs.

Background: According to Hippocrates, Akhlat is of four types, i.e., Dam (Blood), Balgham (Phlegm), Safra (Yellow Bile), and Sauda (Black Bile). The correct proportion of these fluids in the body, in terms of quality and quantity, leads to health, while their irregular distribution leads to diseases. The argument presented in this paper will encompass both Tabayi and Ghair Tabayi Sauda.Objective: However, in light of recent advances in the area of molecular biology and biochemistry of the human body, we aim to discuss Sauda as a Khilt in the context of human physiology. We propose that the chemico-biological / physiological role of the molecule rather than its structure will define its placement in Khilt-e-Sauda.Conclusion: Chemico/biological role of the molecule may change with the physiological context, and hence the placement of the molecule previously included in the Khilt-e-Sauda, may or may not remain in that categorization at that point in time in that physiological state.

Background: Various ayurvedic drugs have been widely explored for their therapeutic potencies since ancient times. One of the most significant medicinal plants is Curcuma longa, which is one of the different crude medications. It has a variety of beneficial pharmacological characteristics and has been a staple of Indian cooking for centuries. It exhibits antifungal, antimicrobial, antioxidant, renal, and hepatoprotective activities. This review is an attempt to explore the various pharmacological properties of curcumin.Methods: This article presents a summary of the methodology available to study the pharmacological potential, chemical makeup, and organoleptic aspects of Curcuma longa (haldi).Results: For its therapeutic properties in Indian material medicine, Curcuma longa is welldocumented. The plant belongs to the genus Curcuma longa. The Zingiberaceae family includes Curcuma longa. Curcuma longa is widely used in cosmetics. It is considered the best anthelmintic property for GIT disorders. In many research papers, curcumin is the best anti-inflammatory agent. Curcumin is known for its synergistic effect against an anticancer agent. The usefulness of Curcuma longa as a preventative and curative measure is well established worldwide.Conclusion: At general, researchers must consider the experience, cost, and availability of the multidisciplinary research team, as well as the measures implemented in the institutions, in order to comprehend the benefits and drawbacks of each assessment method.

Diabetes is a severe metabolic disorder characterized by hyperglycemia. Hyperglycemia is a hallmark of diabetes, a life-threatening metabolic condition. There are a variety of oral hypoglycemic drugs in the market for the treatment of diabetes mellitus, including biguanides, sulphonylurea, and alpha-glucosidase inhibitors. On the other hand, these conventional methods of treating diabetes are costly and associated with a variety of long-term issues, whereas medicinal herbs used to treat diabetes are inexpensive and have no harmful consequences or side effects. Because of the existence of different therapeutically relevant active phytochemicals such as tannins, flavonoids, alkaloids, and other compounds in medicinal plants, they can be used in treating diabetes. Various medicinal plants used to treat diabetes mellitus and their bioactive components are discussed in this review article. In this review, the prospects of these medicinal plants, as well as the challenges associated with their use, are discussed.

Aloe vera L. (Aloe barbadensis Miller) is a very common water deficit-resistant plant which has immense medicinal properties. It is a fleshy plant belonging to the Liliaceae family. Aloe barbadensis has enormous medicinal value. According to historical records, it has been used in folk and traditional medicine in different parts and regions of the world for ages. Aloe vera is widely used in Ayurvedacharya and Unani medicine. The plant is a rich source of potent medicinal phytocomponents, each with pronounced medicinal properties. Primarily, Aloe gel is considered one of Mother Nature's magical formulations for treating and curing various health ailments, including skin diseases, hair fall, indigestion, inflammation, and many others. Studies revealed that the use of biofertilizers significantly improves the growth and development of the Aloe plant. The quality and quantity of the constituents of Aloe vera gel are also reported to improve significantly with the use of biofertilizers. Biofertilizers, when used alone or in combination, are reported to influence the length, width, biomass, and phytoconstituents of the leaves of the plant. Biofertilizers, which are environment friendly and more effective on Aloe, can thus be considered a better substitute for other fertilizers for boosting the qualitative and quantitative yield of the magical medicinal plant, Aloe barbadensis.

Around 3500 laboratory-confirmed cases of monkeypox infection, from 42 non-endemic countries have been reported to World Health Organization (WHO), during the current multicountry monkeypox outbreak. As of now, patients with monkeypox infection are managed symptomatically with supportive care. Hence, our current review focuses on the analysis of the pharmacotherapeutic potentials of black seeds (N. sativa). The literature was searched in web-based databases including web of science, Medline/PMC/PubMed, Embase, EBSCO, Google Scholar, Science Direct, and reference lists to identify relevant publications. Several clinical, animal, in-vivo, in-vitro, and in-silico studies have confirmed the antiviral efficacy of N. sativa against various viruses. In addition, previous research have demonstrated the analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antioxidant, and immunomodulatory effects of Black seeds (N. sativa), which would help to alleviate the signs, symptoms, and complications associated with monkeypox infection. In consequence, black seeds (N. sativa) could be added as an adjuvant therapy along with repurposed/ investigational antiviral drugs and supportive care in the management of patients with monkeypox infection in early stages to prevent inflammatory conditions and secondary bacterial infections. The safety and efficacy of Black seeds (N. sativa) in the management of monkeypox infection would further be established by future randomized controlled clinical trials.

Background: Culinary spices and Indian kitchens share a historical relationship for centuries. An average Indian kitchen contains a lot of spices like fennel, cardamom, cumin, turmeric, clove, black pepper, etc., used to increase the aroma and taste of food. Scientific research suggested the pharmacological activities of these kitchen spices, as most of them enhance the appetite, digestion, and have anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties, and some spices are potent anticancer, antidiabetic, and anti-obesity. Some Culinary spices are unexplored scientifically.Objective: The objective of this study is to investigate the presently explored spices and some unexplored spices which might be used in certain parts of the world to enhance the flavor and could have medicinal benefits, studying their pharmacological actions in controlling or managing diseases.Methods: Numerous surveys in literature were done in response to determining the culinary spices used commonly in Indian kitchens and also some rare spices which might be used in certain parts of the world for their pharmacological, and traditional uses, their chemical constituents having pharmacological activities. Relevant peer-reviewed publications were searched through various databases such as ScienceDirect, PubMed, Google Scholar, Research Gate, etc.Results: A total of 11 common culinary spices like cumin, cardamom, cloves, etc. are studied regarding their common kitchen role, traditional uses, and their explored pharmacological activities, and 11 other spices like Alpinia galanga, Prunus mahaleb, Grain of Paradise, etc., which are used in some parts of the world having medicinal properties are also studied. The chemical constituents of these plants are also studied which could be responsible for their medicinal activity.Conclusion: In this review, an approach was made to study the common culinary spices and other culinary spices which might not be most common, having medicinal properties, so that better treatment options could be available for future generations.