Current Traditional Medicine - Volume 7, Issue 5, 2021

The recent coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and its rapid spread from continent to continent pose a global health emergency. Researchers are making headway to combat the ongoing COVID-19 to prevent further losses. Many natural antiviral compounds have been explored for their potential application in treating viral infections, including those caused by SARS- and MERS-CoV. This review focuses on natural compounds that have been showing promising results against SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV, along with their mechanism of action. The entry and replication of CoV are among the major mechanism for the spread of COVID-19. In this context, natural compounds inhibiting the proteins essential for SARS-CoV-2 entry and replication in the nanomolar (nicotianamine) and micromolar (baicalin, baicalein, scutellarein, dihydromyricetin, quercetagetin, myricetin, amentoflavone, herbacetin, isobavachalcone, quercetin 3128;β128;d128;glucoside, helichrysetin, hirsutenone, hirsutanonol, oregonin, rubranol, rubranoside B, rubranoside A, tanshinones, emodin, and griffithsin) concentration could be potential sources of new anti-SARS-CoV-2 drugs.

Background: Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), a highly contagious ssRNA +Ve sense virus that emerged in late 2019, has created a global panic. With no effective therapy available, the virus has significantly affected the world population causing millions of death. Therefore, it is the utmost need to look towards all the possible strategies to benefit the community. Objectives: In view of the current global pandemic, we tried to discuss the potential benefits of two cost-effective alternative approaches, i.e., physical exercise and yoga. Methods: The editorial is based on a literature search available on PubMed, Google Scholar, and WHO portal. Search terminologies include “yoga,” “physical exercise,” “COVID-19,” “viral infections,” and a combination of these words. Results: A literature search defines yoga and physical exercise efficacy in different viral diseases, including HIV, influenza, and HSV. It ameliorates the quality of life (QoL) by improving both the physical and mental well-being of an individual. This is mainly done by promoting the better functioning of the immune system (increases CD4+ and CD8+ cells and reduces pro-inflammatory response). Conclusions: Regular involvement of these activities in day-to-day life may limit latent virus reactivations and reduce infection chances.

COVID-19 has rapidly spread across the globe and has been declared a pandemic. Presently, drugs or vaccines are unavailable, and patients are treated on symptom management basis. Traditional healthcare can contribute to prevent the infection in healthy individuals as well as in the treatment of infected patients. Ayurveda medicines become even more relevant as there is a descriptive illustration of causation and management of diseases similar to COVID-19 as Janapadodhwamsa. Meanwhile, Ministry of AYUSH, Govt. of India has recommended herbal remedies for prevention of COVID-19 infection. The remedies include 1. Herbal tea twice a day and 2. Golden milk for immunity boosting measures. Further, Steam inhalation and medicated honey is recommended for sore throat. In this review, we have tried to evaluate effectiveness of the recommended Indian remedies in prevention and treatment of COVID-19 conditions with available scientific literature. COVID-19, being primarily a respiratory disease, all 9 herbs of remedies have been selected for analysing their respiratory diseases related immunomodulatory and other activities, anti-viral, antibacterial activities as well as in silico effectiveness of constituents thereof against SARS-CoV-2 targets. The literature search was carried out in electronic databases namely PubMed, ScienceDirect, ACS Publications, Clinicaltrials.gov, Springer, and Google Scholar. The scientific evaluation revealed that the recommended Indian remedies might be useful in tackling COVID-19 situation, though scientific interventional studies are required to establish the claims.

Background: Diabetes is a metabolic, endocrine disorder that is featured by hyperglycemia and glucose intolerance, primarily due to beta cell destruction, with insulin resistance playing a secondary role. It is treated with the help of many chemical-based drugs as well as natural derivatives. Objective: There is an urgent need to develop new efficacious, cheaper and more available drugs to face this growing public health challenge. Many anti-diabetic drugs are often associated with many adverse effects. Materials & Methods: Literature was reviewed in a narrative manner in order to obtain information regarding active phytoactives present in different plants. Anti-diabetic drugs are often loaded with side effects; therefore, this review was carried out for the selection of effective natural therapeutic moieties with less or no adverse effects. Results: In this review article, we have described the details of recently detected bioactive compounds present in different natural substances which can be used effectively for diabetes-related adversities. Conclusion: Natural products-based bioactive molecules have been proven to improve insulin resistance and other related complications through suppression of inflammatory signaling pathways.

Background: Euterpe oleracea Mart (açaí) is traditionally used as antidiarrheal, kidney and liver infections and as antimalarial. Methods: A review on Euterpe oleracea Mart was carried out in different databases, such as PubMed, Medline, Scielo, Herbal Medicine, as well as dissertations, theses, and books. Results: The literature shows the anticancer potential of açaí in different e cancer models. Regarding phytochemical composition, the literature shows greater amount of polyphenols, especially anthocyanins. Conclusions: The different uses of Euterpe oleracea Mart have been demonstrated by pharmacological and phytochemical studies, with the great amount of polyphenols, found in açaí, being pointed out as the main responsible for its anticancer activity.

Background: Diabetes mellitus is a chronic metabolic disorder characterized by hyperglycemia in which the blood sugar levels are increased. Nepalese medicinal plants are being used traditionally since long back in the treatment of diabetes. These plants have provided a broad research area in modern medicine development due to their potency to inhibit digestive enzymes. The isolated compounds and crude extract of these plants exhibited the property of inhibiting the digestive enzymes (α-amylase and α-glucosidase). Objective: This review's primary purpose is to explore the inhibitory activity of Nepal's medicinal plants against the digestive enzymes (α-amylase and α-glucosidase) as a practical approach to control type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Twenty Nepalese medicinal plants belonging to 19 families and compounds isolated from them possessing potent inhibitory activity against digestive enzymes and are responsible for managing postprandial hyperglycemia are reviewed under this article. Methods: The scientific evidence of the tabulated medicinal plants' function in managing postprandial hyperglycemia through inhibition of digestive enzymes (α-amylase and α-glucosidase) was carefully investigated online. As a result, searches in PubMed, Research Gate, and Google Scholar were conducted. All of the data from the various sources have been organized in a structured manner. Results and Conclusion: From the database available, twenty plants with their crude extract and some isolated compounds and their IC50 values are tabulated. Thus, these compounds could be vital components in drug design with fewer side effects and could be a replaceable agent to conquer diabetes threats.

Herbal extracts and isolated bioactives from plants have proven their therapeutic activities, as evidenced by preclinical and clinical research. However, there seems some disconnect in their clinical utility as marked by a lack of proper delivery mechanism at desired sites of action. This glitch nowadays is a task for global research activity and being addressed in novel drug delivery systems. Steady progress is observed in integrating novel techniques of drug delivery with successful incorporation of phytochemicals marked by scores of advantages. Limitations of conventional drug delivery systems have overcome to a considerable extent by innovative drug delivery methods which show improvement in targeted drug delivery, drug distribution, protection of active substance, prolonged action, and stability. The perspective of this review thus focuses on the progress in novel drug delivery systems with a spotlight on nanocarriers for active herbal agents, their preparation methods with types, examples of active ingredients incorporated, and biomedical applications.

Ayurveda prescribes the use of Medhya Rasayanas for the prevention and management of brain disorders like epilepsy, schizophrenia, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s disease. Medhya Rasayanas are a group of nootropic herbs that improve cognition, memory, intelligence, creativity, learning skills, and executive functions. Additionally, these supplements also boost immunity. These herbs have an intrinsic nature to exert these effects on the human brain. This review is an attempt to study and correlate the ethno-pharmacological basis of Medhya Rasayanas with their antiepileptic potential. Medhya Rasayanas, either alone or in combination, are prescribed to manage epileptic patients in Ayurveda. These herbs are time-tested and also possess scientifically proven pharmacological effects. In this review, detailed pharmacognostical, phytochemical, and pharmacological investigation on Medhya Rasayanas like Centella asiatica, Convolvulous pluricaulis, Glycyrrhiza glabra, Tinospora cordifolia, Acorus calamus, Bacopa monnieri, Celastrus paniculatus, Benincasa hispida, Nardostachys jatamansi, mineral-like Swarna Bhasma (Gold Calyx) and few herbal formulations like Panchgavyaghrita, Brahmi Ghrita, Mentat, Asthamangal Ghrita, Sarasvata Churna, Sarasvata Arishta, and Samvardhan ghrita which contains Medhya Rasayanas was performed using various search engines like Google Scholar, Scopus, SciFinder, ScienceDirect, PubMed, Bentham Science and other online and print journals and scientific databases on medicinal plants. The rigorous review of the literature proves that each Medhya Rasayana acts with different mechanisms of action to offer neuroprotection. The review strengthens the ethno-pharmacological claim of Medhya Rasayanas for their use in the treatment and management of epilepsy and other brain disorders.

Aim: The technique of modeling was used to predict the performance of herbal extraction. Background: Eurycoma longifolia is a traditional herb that is widely used to promote overall well- being by local folks in South East Asia. Objective: The objective of this study was to model the extraction yield, glycosaponin and eurycomanone content from the roots of E. longifolia in a reflux system. Methods: The effects of processing parameters (extraction temperature and particle size) were investigated using a factorial experimental design. The experiments were carried out for 60 min using three categories of particle sizes: S1 (0.50 - 0.99 mm), S2 (1.00 - 1.99 mm), and S3 (2.00 - 2.80 mm) at 70, 80, and 90 °C. The extraction was carried out using the water to solid ratio of 10:1 in a reflux system. Results: A quadratic model is well-fitted to the yield of extraction, while a linear model is proposed for the extraction of eurycomanone, which is significantly affected by temperature. The single step of the reflux process revealed that glycosaponin extraction behaves linearly with temperature and particle size but in an inverse direction. However, further reflux process using crude extract prior to gravimetric precipitation could produce higher content of glycosaponin, which can be explained using a quadratic model. Conclusion: The extraction of eurycomanone was faster than glycosaponin because the mass transfer and diffusion coefficients of eurycomanone were about two times larger than glycosaponin. Other: This could be due to the larger molecular size of glycosaponin, and thus higher mass transfer is a limitation when diffusing plant cells into the solvent during extraction.

Background: Glycyrrhiza glabra Linn. (Family: Fabaceae) is known to be a very useful medicinal plant in the Traditional Medicinal Systems since centuries. With ethnopharmacological values, it is a well-reported plant for its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anxiolytic, expectorant and antidepressant activities. Objective: Although the plant has been described to possess memory enhancing activity, the present study focused on examining the comparative effect of Glycyrrhiza glabra extracts viz. flavonoid rich (GGFE) and glycyrrhizin rich (GGGE) in stress-triggered rats and providing future research insights on this herbal drug, for which no scientific justification has been reported till now. Methods: Male Wister rats divided into 7 different groups (n= 6 per group) were given chronic foot-shock stress for 21 successive days with scheduled administration of the extracts (50 and 100 mg/kg) and standard drug (10 mg/kg) for 28 days. Elevated Plus Maze, Rectangular Maze, Morris Water Maze, and Locomotor activity were performed to test behavioral alteration and learning ability of stressed rats. Further, rats were sacrificed to assay acetylcholinesterase activity and antioxidant activity in brain samples for their mechanistic role in learning and memory. Results: Extracts of Glycyrrhiza glabra indicated a significant alteration in stress-induced learning and memory deficiency in behavioral parameters studied. These extracts also modulated significant changes in acetylcholinesterase and antioxidant enzyme activity to improve the learning and memory of stressed rats. Conclusion: Both the extracts of Glycyrrhiza glabra (GGFE and GGGE) were found to exert memory enhancing property in stress-triggered rats. Moreover, the comparative results confirmed that the high potential of GGGE in comparison to GGFE might be due to the rich glycyrrhizin content present in GGGE responsible for acetylcholinesterase and antioxidant enzyme modulatory activities. Therefore, GGGE could be used as a promising lead for further mechanistic and molecular studies for defining the role of glycyrrhizin in Glycyrrhiza glabra.

Aim: The effect of Majun Falasfa (MF) was studied on the transgenic Drosophila expressing human alpha synuclein panneurally. Background: MF is a Unani medicine used for enhancing mental power and treating kidney, joint pains and urinary tract diseases. It is also used for phlegmatic diseases. It is also being used in age related dementia and to counter the effects of ageing. Methods: The equivalents of recommended dose for human were established for 20g of fly food i.e. 0.0014, 0.0028, 0.0042 and 0.0056g per 20g of diet. The PD flies were allowed to feed on it for 24 days before studying its effect on cognitive and oxidative stress parameters. Immuno-histochemistry was also performed to study the effect of MF on human alpha synuclein expression. Results: The exposure to MF increased the life span and improved the activity of PD flies. MF delayed the loss of climbing ability of PD flies. The exposure of PD flies to MF significantly reduced the oxidative stress and improves the antioxidant enzymes homeostasis compared to unexposed PD flies. The exposure to MF reduces the formation of Lewy bodies as is evident by immunohistochemistry. Conclusion: MF is potent in reducing the PD (Parkinson’s disease) symptoms being mimicked in the transgenic flies.