Journal of Herbmed Pharmacology
Volume:9 Issue: 4, Oct 2020

Leishmaniasis is the neglected disease among parasitic diseases with an increasing rate of infections. Recently, numerous studies have been conducted on the leishmanicidal properties of various essential oils (EOs). In this research, literature have been systematically reviewed, from 20 years ago, and required information have been extracted. Overally, leishmanicidal effects of ~180 EOs against promastigotes of nine species of Leishmania havebeen documented. Inhibitory concentrations 50% (IC50) of around 30 EOs were less than 10 μg.mL-1. EOs of Tetradenia riparia, Nectandra hihua, and Thymus hirtus with IC50s of 0.01,0.20, and 0.25 μg.mL-1 against Leishmania amazonensis, Leishmania infantum, and Leishmania major respectively, were identified as the most effective EOs. Furthermore, IC50 of Thymus hirtus on Leishmania infantum was 0.43 μg.mL-1. Frequently, substantial differences were found between the observed IC50s of one EO against promastigotes of different species of Leishmania. It can be concluded that the leishmanicidal activity of EOs is selective. Turning to the results,the combination of EOs for the design of multifunctional drugs can lead to excellent outcomes.Interestingly, the results have been classified by promastigote species, so this would be a valuablebenchmark for researchers.

Depression is a life-threatening chronic illness which affects people worldwide. Drugs used to treat this disease have multiple side effects and may cause drug-drug or drug-food interactions. Additionally, only 30% of patients respond adequately to the existing drugs and the remaining do not achieve complete recovery. Thus, finding effective treatments that have adequate efficacy, fewer side effects and lower cost seem to be necessary. The purpose of this study was to review animal and double-blind clinical studies on the anti-depressant effects of medicinal herbs. In this study, validated scientific articles indexed in PubMed, SID, Web of Science and Scopus databases were reviewed. A database search was performed using the following terms: clinical trials, depression, major depressive disorder, essential oil, extract and medicinal plant. Positive effects of a number of herbs and their active compounds such as St John’s-wort, saffron, turmeric, ginkgo, chamomile, valerian, Lavender, Echium amoenum and Rhodiola rosea L. in improvement of symptoms of mild, moderate or major depression have been shown in clinical trials. The above plants show antidepressant effects and have fewer side effects than synthetic drugs. Hence, they have the potential to treat patients with depression.

Pogostemon benghalensis (Burm.f.) Kuntze (Lamiaceae) is an important aromatic plant. Multiple classes of phytochemicals such as flavonoids, phenols, phytosteroids, carbohydrates, fatty acids, glycosides, sterols, terpenoids, tannins, essential oil, and alkaloids have been isolated from the title species. Different plant parts have been used as traditional remedies for various ailments. The present review aims to update and coherent the fragmented information on botanical aspects, phytochemistry, traditional uses, and pharmacological activities. An extensive review of the literature was carried out by using various search engines like PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, Google Scholar, Google, Scifinder for information. The articles were searched using the keywords "Pogostemon", "Parviflorus’, "benghalensis". Chemical structures of the chemical compounds were drawn using software Chem Draw ultra 8.0. Most of the plant parts have been used for the treatment of various ailments. Phytochemistry reveals that the plant is a rich source of various biologically active compounds. Pogostemon extracts exhibited numerous pharmacological effects like anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and antioxidant activities. In sum, P. benghalensis is a promising aromatic and medicinal plant as depicted by its various traditional uses and pharmacological studies. Bioactive compounds, responsible for its various pharmacological activities at the molecular level, need further detailed investigations. Future clinical studies are also required to validate the various traditional uses of P. benghalensis.

Recently it has been shown that Astragalus fasciculifolius may be an effective remedy in the treatment of diabetes and wound healing. Current study was designed to examine the effects of topical administration of A. fasciculifolius (common name: sarcocolla) cream on treatment of wounds in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.

A circle deep wound having 15-mm diameter was created on the back of 32 streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Thirty-two wounds were evaluated in four groups of animals (n = 8). The animals in first and second groups were treated using distilled water and petrolatum for 20 days, respectively. The third and fourth groups were treated using sarcocolla cream 5% and 10% for 20 days, respectively. The evaluation was performed in all groups on days 1, 3, 5, 7, 10, 14, 17 and 20.

The sarcocolla cream 5% and sarcocolla cream 10% exerted significant healing effects on diabetic rat wounds (P<0.001) compared to the control groups under treatment of petrolatum or distilled water. The sarcocolla cream had favorable effects on the wound healing ratio especially during long-term (14 days), with no difference at concentrations of sarcocolla 5% and 10%.

Sarcocolla (topical) therapy is possibly a useful approach for wound healing in diabetic rats. More investigations are needed to elucidate the possible protective mechanisms and safety.

Isoniazid (INH) and rifampin (RIF) are antituberculosis drugs that can induce injury in the liver. The purpose of this study was to investigate the antioxidant and hepatoprotective activities of the ethanol extract of Curcuma heyneana rhizome on liver injury in animal model induced by INH and RIF.

Antioxidant activity was measured by using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method. All animals were divided into 7 groups. Liver injury was induced by using combination of INH at the dose of 50 mg/kg and RIF at the dose of 100 mg/kg. These drugs were administrated for 15 days along with extracts at doses of 5, 25, 125 or 625 mg/kg. Positive control group was given catechin. On the 16th day, the rats were sacrificed, blood and livers were collected for assessment of biochemical parameters like alanine transaminase (ALT) and aspartate transaminase (AST) and histological studies, respectively.

The ethanol extract strongly scavenged DPPH with inhibition concentration 50 (IC50) of 82.48 ppm. Administration of ethanol extract of C. heyneana rhizome at the dose of 25, 125 or 625 mg/kg significantly inhibited the elevation of AST and ALT (P<0.01). Moreover, the effects caused by administration of the extracts were similar to the effects caused by catechins. Various doses of the extract could effectively reduce tissue damage.

This result suggests that ethanol extract of C. heyneana rhizome at the doses of 25, 125 and 625 mg/kg might be effective as hepatoprotective agent.

The most important compliant of post-operative orthopedic patients is severe and intolerable pain. This pain has negative impacts on patient’s satisfaction with pain management and bone healing after surgery. This study was conducted with the aim of evaluating the effects of Melissa officinalis (Melissa) tea and Matricaria chamomilla (Chamomile) tea on pain intensity and satisfaction with pain management in patients after lower limb orthopedic surgery.

This was a randomized controlled trial conducted on 96 patients after lower limb orthopedic surgery in Ayatollah Kashani hospital of Shahrekord city, Iran. Patients were randomized to M. officinalis, Chamomile and control groups with blocking randomization method. For M. officinalis group, 1 g of Melissa tea, for Chamomile group 1 g chamomile tea and for control group black tea was prescribed 3 times a day. Study variables were evaluated before and 30 min after each stage of intervention and then the mean changes of pain intensity and satisfaction before interventions and after each step of intervention were compared between groups. Significance level was considered as P<0.05.

Before intervention, the mean scores of pain intensity and satisfaction with pain management had no significance difference between groups. The mean changes of pain intensity and satisfaction with pain management (after first 3 steps of intervention) in M. officinalis and M. chamomilla groups were significantly greater than the ones in control group (P<0.05).

Prescription of M. officinalis tea or Chamomile tea might be used as effective remedy for reducing pain and increasing satisfaction with pain management after orthopedic surgery.

Muntingia calabura is used for many medicinal advantages. So far, limited study has been done for the bioactivities of M.calabura fruit. The study aimed to investigate the enzyme inhibitory, antioxidant, and antibacterial activities of M.calabura fruit.

Ethanol extract of M.calabura fruit was tested for its inhibitory enzyme activities against key enzymes linked to human pathologies, such as diabetes (α-glucosidase and α-amylase), hyperuricemia (xanthine oxidase), and obesity (lipase). The antioxidant properties were investigated using different in vitro assays (DPPH, CUPRAC, reducing power, phosphomolybdenum, metal chelating and DNA-Damage protection assays). The fruit was also evaluated for its antibacterial activity against several gram positive and negative bacteria.

The total phenolic and flavonoid contents of the extract were 10.85 mgGAE/g and 3.30 mg QE/g, respectively. The fruit extract showed good inhibition against α-glucosidase and α-amylase (IC50 16.74 and 46.49 µg/ml, respectively), with activities stronger than acarbose (100.38 and 152.46 µg/ml, respectively). It exhibited weak inhibitory activity against xanthine oxidase (IC50 0.91 mg/ml) and lipase (IC50 16.48 mg/ml), weaker than the references used for respective test (IC50 allopurinol 5.31 µg/ml and orlistat 0.17 µg/ml). The extract showed antibacterial activities againts Chromobacterium violaceum, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus mutans, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Escherichia coli. The ethanol extract showed weaker antioxidant activities, when compared to ascorbic acid and BHT. However, the extract was able to protect DNA-damage.

The study concludes that M. calabura fruit exhibits antioxidant, antibacterial, and enzyme inhibitory properties, thus can be a good source for pharmacological uses.

The nasal route of drug administration offers an alternative way for oral drug delivery and has the benefit of avoiding first-pass metabolism through drug delivery directly into the systemic circulation. The drug absorption enhancing effects of selected aloe leaf materials have been shown across various delivery routes, but their efficacies in this regard across nasal epithelia have not yet been investigated. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of gel and whole leaf extract materials from three selected aloe species (Aloe vera, Aloe ferox and Aloe muth-muth) on FITC-dextran 4400 permeation across two nasal epithelial models.

Permeation of FITC-dextran 4400 and histological studies were conducted on both RPMI 2650 cell layers and excised sheep nasal mucosa, while toxicity studies were conducted using a neutral red assay on the RPMI 2650 cell model.

Significantly increased (P ≤ 0.05) apparent permeability coefficient (Papp) values of FITC-dextran 4400 in the presence of the aloe materials as compared to the control were found with all three aloe species at the highest concentrations (1.5% and 3% w/v) in the RPMI 2650 cell line, while only Aloe muth-muth at the highest concentration exhibited significantly (P ≤ 0.05) higher Papp values across the excised tissue model. Histological and neutral red analysis showed that Aloe vera materials exhibited detrimental effects, Aloe muth-muth only showed slight effects on cell viability and Aloe ferox exhibited no effect on the nasal epithelium.

This in vitro study showed for the first time the potential of Aloe ferox and Aloe muth-muth leaf materials to enhance nasal drug delivery without causing damaging effects on the epithelium, while Aloe vera enhanced nasal drug delivery with detrimental effects as determined by means of cytotoxicity assays and histological analysis.

Dengue infection is one of the worldwide problems with an increasing rate. Dengue virus (DENV) belonging to Flaviviridae family carries a positive single strand RNA, consists of four serotypes, gives rise to dengue shock syndrome, undifferentiated fever (DF), and dengue hemorrhagic fever. Unfortunately, there is no licensed drug available for various serotypes and the vaccine candidates are still under investigation. Flavonoids are a group of important phytochemicals of many plants used against various viruses. Therefore, the present study was designed to screen the subset of plant flavonoids against the DENV NS2/NS3 protease of 3L6P and 2VBC of serotype 1 and serotype 4 respectively by in silico docking.

Flavonoids were subjected to docking study using AutoDock Vina. The lead molecule was further investigated for its dengue viral protease inhibition. Further the cytotoxicity of lead molecule was tested by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion and toxicity (ADMET) study was performed using OSIRIS software.

The flavonoids amentoflavone, quercetin-3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside, avicularin, reynoutrin, silymarin and scutallarein showed potential interactions in both serotype 1 and serotype 4 and hence these flavonoids can be served as potential lead candidates to stop viral replication. Amentoflavone, the lead molecule, showed potential in-vitro protease inhibition activity and also the concentration was below the minimal effective level for the in-vitro cytotoxicity test conducted.

This finding has laid the groundwork for eventual identification of these flavonoids in developing potential inhibitor candidates for further development by in-vitro extraction and chemical modification methods.

Malaria remains a life-threatening disease, mainly in tropical and sub-tropical countries of the world. The problem caused by the disease is further compounded by the emergence and spread of multidrug resistant Plasmodium falciparum. Coupled with the poor distribution of modern health facilities, there is resurgence in the use of herbal remedies to treat malaria. In this study, we evaluated the antiplasmodial activities of six commercially available herbal formulations using in vivo and in vitro methods to assess their claimed antimalarial properties.

The antiplasmodial activities of the six herbal formulations were assessed using Chloroquine sensitive P. falciparum parasite strain 3D7 using the SYBR Green in vitro method and the in vivo curative test (established infection) in Plasmodium berghei infected Mus musculus.

The six herbal formulations had values of IC50 > 100 μg/mL on 3D7 strain of P. falciparum compared to controls which had IC50 values of 6.92nM (Chloroquine) and 0.75nM (Artesunate). In the curative evaluation (in vivo) the herbal formulations significantly reduced parasitaemia on day 4 (26.3%-77.3 %) and day 7 (45.54%-94.81%) post-treatments (P < 0.05) when compared to the untreated group, which recorded high mortality rate.

Findings made in this study lend support to the claim that these herbal formulations have antiplasmodial activities. Percentage inhibitions of parasitaemia of the formulations were all above 50% except M??T capsule which had lower percentage inhibition of parasitaemia.

Psoriasis is an autoimmune, chronic and debilitating disorder, mainly characterized by the presence of inflamed, dry and scaly patches of skin. This study aimed to investigate the possible anti-psoriasis effect of methanolic extract of Phoenix dactylifera seeds in mice.

Thirty-five Wistar albino male mice were divided randomly into 5 groups (n = 7). Group 1 represented the normal group (received the cream base only), group 2 through 5 received a single daily application of imiquimod 5% cream; while, groups 3, 4 and 5 received once daily application of clobetasol 0.05%, P. dactylifera seeds methanol extract 2% and 5%, respectively. All animals received the test substances on the shaved back for 10 consecutive days. Scoring for skin inflammation severity (scaling, erythema and thickness) was recorded on daily basis, and the animals were sacrificed on day 11. Skin and spleen samples were taken to evaluate histopathological and spleen index changes, respectively.

Imiquimod successfully induced psoriasis like lesion in mice as well as significant increase in the skin neovascularization. Topical methanol extract of P. dactylifera cream significantly reduced the signs of inflammation as well as skin neovascularization in a concentration-dependent manner, where 5% methanol extract cream showed better reduction in the inflammatory parameters than 2% methanol extract cream. These findings were supported by the results of the histopathological examination.

Results of the study suggest that methanol extract of P. dactylifera seeds possesses anti-psoriasis activity and could be used efficiently for the alleviation of psoriatic symptoms.

Pain is managed using conventional drugs like paracetamol, aspirin and diclofenac among others. Synthetic drugs have many side effects. This study aimed at evaluating the analgesic potential of the dichloromethane leaf extracts of Eucalyptus globulus and Senna didymobotrya in mice.

The dichloromethane leaf extracts of E. globulus and S. didymobotrya were subjected to quantitative phytochemical analysis using gas chromatography-mass spectrophotometry (GC-MS). In vivo analgesic evaluation comprised of nine groups of animals (Swiss albino mice): normal, positive, negative control and six experimental groups that received 25, 50, 100, 150, 200 and 250 mg/kg body weight of each plant extract intraperitoneally. Thirty minutes later, they were injected with 0.01 mL of 2.5% formalin. The animals in positive control group were administered diclofenac (15 mg/kg) and formalin, the normal control mice received 3% dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) in normal saline, while the negative group received DMSO in normal saline and formalin. All the doses were administered intraperitoneally. The duration of shaking and licking of the injected paw was scored and analyzed.

The analysis revealed that E. globulus contained alpha-pinenes, endo-fenchol, α-eudesmol, myrcene, camphene, alpha-phellandrene, limonene, and camphor while S. dymobotrya possessed camphene, alpha-phellandrene, limonene, and camphor. In the late phase, E. globulus at the doses of 25, 50, 100, 150, 200 and 250 mg/kg reduced the paw licking time by 34.03%, 60.79%, 84.33 %, 90.65%, 94.49%, 98.52%, respectively while S. didymobotrya extract reduced the paw licking time by 26.48%, 32.96%, 87.04%, 91.27%, 93.40%, 90.97%, and 96.82%, respectively.

The results of this study validate and support the traditional uses of these plants as analgesics.

Apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) has been widely used for the treatment of several disorders such as liver diseases, but the hepatoprotective and anticancer activities of its seeds were not studied before. In this study, we evaluated the pharmacological effects of apricot seeds extracts and amygdalin on prevention of liver damage and treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Amygdalin contents of apricot seeds in ethanolic extracts were determined using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) then, the ethanolic apricot seeds extract and amygdalin were evaluated for its hepatoprotective activity against carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatotoxicity and anticancer activity against N-nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA)-induced hepatocarcinogenesis.

The amount of amygdalin was 5.72 g and 10.22 g/100 g extract for 70% and 99.9% ethanolic apricot seeds extracts, respectively. Pretreatment of the rats with 70% and 99.9% ethanolic apricot seeds extracts (100 mg/kg), amygdalin and silymarin (50 mg/kg) prevented elevation in liver function parameters such as alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) caused by carbon tetrachloride injection with significant increase in albumin, total proteins, and no effect on total direct bilirubin when compared to those in hepatotoxic group. Both extracts also showed anticancer activity against hepatocellular carcinoma via diminishing the elevated serum levels of AST, ALT, ALP, total, direct bilirubin, albumin, total proteins, alpha-fetoprotein, malondialdehyde (MDA) and nitric oxide (NO) and elevating the decreased hepatic reduced glutathione (GSH) level when compared with NDEA- intoxicated group.

Apricot seeds possess hepatoprotective and anticancer activities that justify its traditional use, and its potential for the treatment of liver diseases including hepatocellular carcinoma.

Sambucus is a genus of the Adoxaceae family and has been widely used as a food and medicinal source. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effects of S. javanica extracts toward T cells regulation in the 7,12-dimethylbenzene (a) anthracene (DMBA)-exposed mice.

Thirty mice were used in this experiment which divided into six treatment groups and five times repetition. Three-month-old BALB/c mice were administrated with 2.8 mg.kg-1 BW of DMBA as carcinogen agent for ten times within four weeks, then continuously treated with 400 and 800 mg.kg-1 BW of S. javanica berries leaves extracts daily for two weeks. Treatment groups in this study were vehicle as negative control, DMBA 2.8 mg.kg-1 BW as positive control; BD1 group, DMBA 2.8 mg.kg-1 + berries extracts 400 mg.kg-1 BW; BD2 group, DMBA 2.8 mg.kg-1 + berries extracts 800 mg.kg-1 BW; LD1 group, DMBA 2.8 mg.kg-1 + leaves extract 400 mg.kg1 BW; and LD2 group, DMBA 2.8 mg.kg-1 + leaves extract 800 mg.kg-1 BW. The relative number of CD4+CD25+CD62L+ cells and CD4+CD62L+ cells were measured and analyzed by using flow cytometer.

DMBA induction decreased the relative number of CD4+CD25+CD62L+ cells while the leaves extract of S. javanica significantly increased their expression. Furthermore, DMBA promoted the relative number of CD4+CD62L+ cells expression while leaves and berries extracts of S. javanica sharply suppressed its expression.

The results suggest that, S. javanica extracts may exert their medicinal properties by modulating T cells regulation in DMBA-induced mice.

Cytotoxin associated gene A (CagA) and vacuolating cytotoxin A (VacA) proteins are the main Helicobacter pylori virulence factors. These toxins are associated with severe gastric diseases. Flavonoids are plant secondary metabolites that have shown great antibacterial effects. This work aimed to study the interaction of a set of flavonoid compounds with CagA and VacA proteins using molecular docking.

A set of 54 flavonoid compounds were used in this study, and 36 of which passed the Lipinski rules of 5. The 3D structures of CagA and VacA proteins were obtained from the Protein Data Bank. The molecular docking was performed using AutoDock Vina software and the results were expressed in terms of binding energies (kcal/mol). Protein-ligand interactions were analyzed using PyMOL software.

For the CagA protein, the licochalcone A molecule showed the highest binding affinity (-8 kcal/mol). For the VacA protein, the galangin, luteolin, and apigenin molecules showed the highest binding affinity (-8.9, -8.5, and -8.2 kcal/mol, respectively). Interactions of the licochalcone A, galangin, luteolin, and apigenin with CagA and VacA proteins involved their hydroxyl groups and/or their carbonyl groups.

Our study showed that these compounds might have the potential for their development into drugs for controlling H. pylori pathogenicity.