Current Traditional Medicine - Volume 7, Issue 6, 2021

Aconitum heterophyllum is a precious endemic medicinal plant of Northwestern Himalaya. It possesses a number of curative effects and is accounted for having diuretic, hepatoprotective, antipyretic, analgesic, antioxidant, alexipharmic, anodyne, anti-atrabilious, expectorant, immunostimulant, febrifuge, anthelminthic, anti- cancerous, anti-diarrhoeal, anti-emetic, anti-inflammatory, anti-flatulent, anti-periodic, anti-phlegmatic, anti-diabetic, antifungal, antimicrobial, antiviral and carminative properties. Further, it is an important ingredient of many Ayurvedic formulations. Its pharmacological potential may be attributed to of the presence of many biologically active phytochemicals like aconitine, mesaconitine, acetylaconitine, heterophylline A, and heterophylline B. Owing to its high therapeutic uses and market value, the plant is being exploited for its tubers from the wild. Further, there are some reproductive constraints due to which the population of the plant in the wild is waning at a rapid rate. Due to these factors, Aconitum heterophyllum has been categorized as critically endangered; demanding focused conservation strategies and cultivation efforts.

Background: The impact of gestational diabetes mellitus GDM is severe since it is directly associated with the detrimental intra-uterine environment, which may lead to enhanced risk of development of fetal metabolic disorders and affects mother and offspring both. Plant derived polyphenols are reported for their protective roles against a variety of human diseases; however, the impact of adherence to polyphenols on the risk of GDM has not been exhaustively reviewed. Objective: Aim of this review is to summarize relevant studies linking polyphenols and polyphenol rich dietary patterns by carefully considering the mechanisms of their action to the risk of GDM and its management. Method: Data from PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Springer online databases and updates from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) were studied. Conclusion: Present review provides a comprehensive report on the association between plant polyphenols and lower risk of GDM, suggesting that polyphenol-rich dietary patterns may be important in preventing the development of GDM and its healthy management.

Aim/ Objective: Phytochemicals are considered an ideal candidate for the production of anticancer drugs due to their pleiotropic activity on multi-mode target events. Materials and Methods: Plants are ideal reservoirs for new chemical entities and provide a promising cancer research line. Cancer cells can be formed through different types of mutations, including Point mutation, DNA amplification, chromosomal rearrangement, Epigenetic mutation. Results and Discussion: Products derived from plants are a groundbreaking area because they are eco-friendly, low-cost, Easy, simple, safer, and less toxic compared to other methods of treatment. Vincristine, vinblastine, paclitaxel, camptothecin, cryptolepine, and its analogues, berberine, Antofine, curcumin, ginsenoside, fisetin, chelerythrine, chelidonine, clivorine, clathrodin, dibromophakellstatin, etc are some potential phytochemicals. Conclusion: The review provides in-depth details of structure, properties, mechanism of action and potential anti-cancer activity of phytochemicals derived from plant sources.

Background: Since primitive times, plants have been extensively utilized in conventional remedies for primary health care. It is observed that medicinal plants have various bioactive components. It becomes an alternative choice for synthetic medications to treat diarrhea and dysentery, which are the primary waterborne diseases with high mortality rates that bring substantial health threats to global populations. Objective: The present review aims to look over the ethnobotanical knowledge for the treatment of diarrhea and dysentery and folklore practices by the people prevailing in Assam. Methods: In this perspective, an extensive literature survey was carried out to understand the mechanism, control, and treatment of diarrhea and dysentery in different online academic databases and books. An advanced search was carried out in 'PubMed' and 'Google Scholar' using the term "Phytoconstituents" and "antidiarrheal" along with "Phytoconstituents" and "anti-amoebic". Results: Data retrieved from databases were analyzed and interpreted to conclude that in Assam, diarrhea and dysentery are the primary leading causes of mortality among children under five years. It is mainly due to the unhygienic livelihood, unavailability of safe drinking water, unhealthy food, seasonal rainfall, flood, and open defecation. The present investigations reveal that the people of Assam use 39 plant species belonging to 36 families to cure diarrhea and dysentery. Conclusion: The present study established the effective use of medicinal plants by various communities in Assam to treat diarrhea and dysentery. Furthermore, it can be used to develop a new therapeutic approach to create new chemical entities (NCE) in drug discovery, which are safe, fruitful, and inexpensive.

Background: In this systematic review, we mainly emphasis on the current advances on the hepatoprotective effects of medicinal herbs in the Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Diseases (NAFLD) treatment. Methods: This review was done based on the 06- PRISMA guideline and registered in the CAMARADES- NC3Rs Preclinical Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Facility (SyRF) database. We did all the research in scientific databases in some English language databases, such as Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, and EMBASE, with no limitation in time to find the in vivo and clinical investigations on hepatoprotective effects of herbal medicines on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. The selected words and terms for our search were: “fatty liver”, “extract”, “essential oil”, “clinical trial”, “herbal medicine”, “medicinal plants”, and “non-alcoholic fatty liver”. Results: Out of 21230 papers, 28 papers including 21 in vivo (75.0%), and 7 clinical trials (25.0%) up to 2020, met the inclusion criteria for discussion in this systematic review. The most part used of plants were leaves (14, 50.0%), rhizome (4, 14.3%), seeds (3, 10.3%), respectively. The most formulations of medicinal herbs were extracts essential oil (9, 35.7%) followed by ethanolic extract (5, 17.8%). The most animals used in vivo studies were rats (12, 42.8%) followed by mice (9, 32.1%). The obtained results also showed that the most period of administrated by these plants were 12 weeks (6, 21.4%), 2 months (6, 21.4%), and 30 days (3, 10.7%), respectively. Conclusion: The obtained findings of the present review demonstrated that medicinal plants due to high availability, high efficacy, and low or minimal toxicity are considered as a valuable and proper alternative to chemical synthetic drugs to treat and prevent of NAFLD. However, further studies especially on the toxicity of these agents are required to approve these recommendations.

Background: Pistacia atlantica (P. atlantica) has been associated with beneficial medical effects on gastrointestinal complications. Objective: It was intended to assess the effects of P. atlantica in elimination of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection and amelioration of gastric reflux and chronic cough. Methods: In this clinical trial study, 100 subjects with H. pylori infection who had the symptoms of gastric reflux and chronic cough were recruited and classified into two intervention and placebo groups, continuing 50 subjects each. The intervention group was administered two 500 mg doses of P. atlantica extract each day. The H. pylori antigen load in stool samples was evaluated using ELISA. The severity of cough and gastric re flux was also determined. Results: The subjects in two groups were age and sex matched and the baseline measurements were similar on the day 0. Nonetheless, it was observed that on the day 14, there was a significant reduction of H. pylori antigen load in the intervention group compared with the placebo group (P = 0.00021). Furthermore, the intensity of chronic cough was reduced significantly in the intervention group (P = 0.0014). The gastric reflux was improved in the intervention group at the end of the study. Conclusion: P. atlantica extract was beneficial in controlling H. pylori infection. It also improved the complications of the infection, like gastric reflux and chronic cough. Hence, it is highly recommended to value natural products, along with traditional antibiotics, in ameliorating H. pylori infection.

Background: Radiation dose is limited by deleterious nontarget effects, such as immunosuppression, necessitating the development of safe radioprotectants. In this study, we examined the radioprotective and anticancer efficacies of the traditional medicinal mushroom Ganoderma lucidum (GL) in a mouse xenograft tumor model. Methods: An aqueous extract was prepared from raw GL and administered by intraperitoneal injection. For the assessment of antitumor efficacy, ICR mice were inoculated with Sarcoma 180 cells and tumor growth (size and weight) compared among control (no treatment), GL alone, radiation alone, and GL plus radiation groups. For the assessment of the protection of the immune system, ICR mice received whole-body irradiation at 2 Gy for 2 weeks or longer with or without intraperitoneal GL administration, and changes in leukocyte, lymphocyte, and monocyte counts were measured. To examine the antioxidant efficacy of GL, ICR mice received whole-body radiation at 2 Gy with or without GL and plasma antioxidant activity measured by the luminol method. Results: Finally, the effects of GL on T helper (CD4-positive) and natural killer (CD8-positive) cell numbers were measured in C57BL mice by flow cytometry. GL administration alone suppressed tumor growth and the tumor-associated increase in lymphocyte and monocyte numbers. In addition, GL enhanced plasma antioxidant activity as well as both helper and natural killer T cell numbers in the presence and absence of irradiation. Conclusion: Collectively, these results demonstrate the antitumor and radioprotective efficacies of GL, which are likely mediated by protection against oxidative stress and preservation of immune cell populations.

Background: The present study analysed the impact of the integrated medical care of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and Siddha herbal preparation KSK on asymptomatic COVID-19 patients based on their body constitution. Objective: The present study aimed to analyse the duration of the hospital stay of asymptomatic COVID-19 patients treated with the integrated medical care of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and herbal decoction of Kaba Sura Kudineer (KSK). Design: The study included a retrospective case series of 19 asymptomatic confirmed SARS-Cov- -2 patients from District COVID Care Centre, Tirupati, India, between 23rd May to 7th June 2020. Methods: Clinical data were collected using a standardised case report form containing demographic information, length of hospital stays, and Siddha Yakkai Ilakkanam (body constitution) from the records. The association between the length of hospital stay, age, gender, and Siddha YI for the confirmed patients after admission was analysed by the Kaplan Meier survival analysis method. Results: Patients belonging to the Aiyam group stayed for at least nine days in the hospital, and 80% took ten or more days to cure the disease. About 71.4% took more than four days and three days of hospital stay in the Azhal and Vali groups, respectively. It was observed that 75% of females and 73.3% of males took nine days or more of hospital stay, respectively. The range of hospital stay was between 2-15 days for patients aged between 19 – 40 years. Conclusion: The present study explored the significance of integrating Siddha medicine with Western medicine in the management of SARS Cov-2 infection. An overall median of 9 days in the length of stay and 8.5 days in the overall mean survival time was documented. The patients of the present study on integrative treatment recovered about nine days earlier in comparison to the patients studied in Vietnam and China.