Can Artemisia herba-alba Be Useful for Managing COVID-19 and Comorbidities?

The focus of this roadmap is to evaluate the possible efficacy of Artemisia herba-alba Asso. (Asteraceae) for the treatment of COVID-19 and some of its symptoms and several comorbidities using a combination of in silico (molecular docking) studies, reported ethnic uses, and pharmacological activity studies of this plant. In this exploratory study, we show that various phytochemicals from Artemisia herba-alba can be useful against COVID-19 (in silico studies) and for its associated comorbidities. COVID-19 is a new disease, so reports of any therapeutic treatments against it (traditional or conventional) are scanty. On the other hand, we demonstrate, using Artemisia herba-alba as an example, that through a proper search and identification of medicinal plant(s) and their phytochemicals identification using secondary data (published reports) on the plant’s ethnic uses, phytochemical constituents, and pharmacological activities against COVID-19 comorbidities and symptoms coupled with the use of primary data obtained from in silico (molecular docking and molecular dynamics) studies on the binding of the selected plant’s phytochemicals (such as: rutin, 4,5-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid, and schaftoside) with various vital components of SARS-CoV-2, it may be possible to rapidly identify plants that are suitable for further research regarding therapeutic use against COVID-19 and its associated symptoms and comorbidities.

Preliminary Phytochemical Analysis of Alternanthera sessilis Leaves (Linn). R.Br. ex DC.

Alternanthera sessilis (Linn). R. Br. ex DC. is a treasure house of phytochemicals belongs to family Amaranthaceae, popularly known as stalkless joy weed, sessile joy weed, dwarf copperleaf, joy weed, Garundi, Guroo, Kanchari. The ability of its seeds to germinate in any season of the year makes it a constantly flourishing component of the vegetation. The main objective of current investigation was to study the qualitatively preliminary phytochemical analysis of such weed species. The fresh plant leaves of Alternanthera sessilis were screened to understand the phytochemical potential with the use of four extracts such as aqueous, acetone, methanol and ethanol. The outcome of the study indicates that the fresh plant contains different classes of secondary metabolites such as alkaloids, carbohydrates, cardiac-glycosides, flavonoids, phenols, saponins, tannins, terpenoids, quinones, coumarins etc. Phytochemical are certain non-nutritive plant chemicals which have allelopathic properties. These phytochemical constituents play an important role in formulation of pharmaceutical and pharmacological drugs

Anti-malarial plants in Ethiopia and their activities on drug resistant malaria

In Ethiopia, the impacts of malaria continue to cause a many number of morbidity and mortality that accounts to most outpatient observations. Ethiopia recently designed to attain nationwide malaria control by 2030 by beginning sub-national elimination in districts with low malaria transmission. However, the rises of drug-resistant parasites, especially Plasmodium falciparum hinder the malaria containment strategies. Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax, dispersed all over the Ethiopia and accounting for 60% and 40% of malaria cases respectively. The aim of this report was to overview the phytochemical constituents, diversity and effect of some compound extracts on drug resistant plasmodium species. Many plant species, a total 200 identified by 82 studies, are used in traditional malaria treatments throughout the country. Allium sativum, Croton macrostachyus and Carica papaya were the more frequently used medicinal plants species. There are so many phytochemicals constituents found in medicinal plants used to treat malaria. Alkaloids, Flavonoids, Phenolics, Terpenoid and Glycosides are the most reported for their effective activity on drug resistant malaria.

Insecticidal and Antifungal Activities of Chemically-Characterized Essential Oils from the Leaves of Withania frutescens L.

The current study was conducted to investigate antifungal and insecticidal activities of essential oil extracted from the Moroccan Withania frutescens L. (EOW), and their chemical composition was profiled. To achieve this goal, EOW was extracted by the hydro-distillation method and their phytochemical constituents were characterized by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analyses (GC-MS). Insecticidal activity was evaluated by use of four tests: contact toxicity, inhalation toxicity, and repellent tests. Antifungal activity was evaluated on Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. Ciceris (F. oxysporum) using different concentrations of EOW. GC/MS analysis revealed that EOW was rich in carvacrol (31.87%), thymol (30.08%), and camphor (9.13%). At a 1-µL/L dose, EOW exhibited mortality rates of 23.13 ± 1.07% and 24.41 ± 1.21% against Callosobruchus maculatus (C.maculatus) by inhalation and contact, respectively. Notably, EOW dose of 20 μL/L caused significant mortality rates of 95.1 ± 3.5% and 76.69 ± 1.71% by inhalation and contact, respectively. EOW exhibited an inhibitory effect on mycelial growth against the tested fungi F. oxysporum of 100% and 93.5 ± 1.1% for the 9 and 4.5 mg/mL doses, respectively. The reduced mycelial growth rate for F. oxysporum was recorded to be 0.3 ± 0.1 and 0.6 ± 0.1 mm/h for the EOW doses of 2.25 and 4.5 mg/mL, respectively. The outcome of the present work showed that EOW has a promising antifungal and insecticidal activity, and it can therefore be employed as a natural alternative insecticidal and mycocidal agent to replace the chemically-synthesized ones.

The Effect of the plant Adiantum philippense Extracts on Biofilms Formation and Adhesion to Shigella flexneri: A Predictive Modelling Approach

In the quest for novel bioactive metabolites, which can also be used as therapeutic agents, Adiantum philippense (A. philippense), an ethnomedically important fern, has become a fascinating herb. In this study, the predictive mathematical modelling of A. philippense crude extract was tested against Shigella flexneri, a common food pathogen for its phytochemical constituents, antagonistic ability, and effect on bacterial adhesion and biofilm formation was calculated. Various kinetics models such as Von Bertalanffy, Baranyi-Roberts, modified Schnute, Modified Richards, Modified Gompertz, Modified Logistics and latest Huang were used to get values for the above kinetic constants or parameters. modified Gompertz of the entire model was found to be the best model with the highest adjusted R2 value and lowest RMSE value. The accuracy and bias factors values were close to unity (1.0). The maximum specific growth rate (mmax (h-1) for S. flexneri treatment with A. philippense extract was significantly much lower (p<0.05) with a value of 0.292 (95% confidence interval of 0.254 to 0.331) compared to control with a value of 0.540 (95% confidence interval of 0.481 to 0.599) indicating potential biofilm inhibition.

Insecticidal activity and phytochemical analysis of Pyrus communis L. extracts against malarial vector, Anopheles pharoensis Theobald, 1901 (Diptera: Culicidae)

We aimed at investigating the insecticidal activity of Pyrus communis L. against the malarial vector, Anopheles pharoensis Theobald, 1901 and its phytochemical constituents. Leaves were collected and the crude extracts were prepared using hexane (PCH) and methanol (PCM). Tested PCH and PCM possess larvicidal activity against A. pharoensis with LC50 and LC90 values of 179.9, 41.2 and 314.1, 68.9 ppm, respectively. A significant reduction in the number of eggs laid by females A. pharoensis that developed from larvae treated with PCH and PCM was noticed. Also, PCH treatment showed highest repellent activity compared with PCM. GC/MS analysis of the PCH revealed the presence of 55 identified compounds subdivided into 2 major classes viz. phenyl alkanes (38.65 %) and oxygenated sesquiterpenoids (36.41 %). LC/MS of PCM had led to the identification of 37 compounds, mainly flavonoids, chalcones, phenolic acids and tannins. The results demonstrate the insecticidal potential of leaves methanol and hexane extracts from P. communis as green insecticidal agents for the control of malarial vector, A. pharoensis.

Performance of Strobilanthes crispus Leaves Extract as Potential Antioxidant Compound in Oil-in-water Emulsion

Excess of free radicals accelerates the degradation of oil-in-water (O/W) emulsion due to oxidative damage resulting in low emulsion quality such as in lotion formulation. The blend of antioxidants in O/W emulsion could reduce the damage caused by the radical compounds. The crude extract of Strobilanthes crispus (S. crispus) leaves was screened for assessing bioactive phytochemical constituents. By using various chemical assays, the extract of S. crispus leaves revealed the presence of tannins, steroids, flavonoids, terpenoids and glycosides. Besides that, the antioxidant activity of the leaf extract, spray-dried extract, a lotion containing extract and other local and abroad commercial lotions were determined as references using standard methods such as total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay and reducing power assay. In terms of TFC, the highest, 10.591±0.01 mg QE/g was recorded in crude extract along with the highest reducing power and percentage inhibition, 25.40±0.02 mg GAE/g and 88.89 % respectively. The result from TPC value can be a good indicator for a longer shelf life of the O/W emulsion if compared to other results from TPF, reducing power and DPPH value. From this study, it can be concluded that S. crispus has potential as a good natural antioxidant ingredient for the emulsion of O/W formulation.

Amelioration of altered adipokines expression and serine/threonine phosphorylation of IRS1 in alloxan-induced diabetes by Potentilla fulgens and its phytochemical constituents

The present study is aimed at investigating the modulation of serine/threonine phosphorylation of IRS1 and the gene expression oftotal IRS1 and adipokines including TNF-α, IL-6 and adiponectin by the plant Potentilla fulgens and its phytochemical constituents catechin and (-)-epicatechin. Alloxan-induced diabetic mice with a two-to three-fold increase in their blood glucose levels were taken for the study. The level of protein expression of total (tIRS1), tyrosine (pIRS1), and serine phosphorylated IRS1 (pIRS1 ser307) was analysed by western blot, and the gene expression level of tIRS1, IL-6, TNF-α, and adiponectin was analysed by real-time PCR. Since evidences strongly suggest that adiponectin, TNF-α, and IL-6 are implicated in insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, therefore these three adipokines have been targeted in our study with an aim to investigate the anti-inflammatory and antidiabetic effects of our plant Potentillafulgens(PF) andits phytochemicals. The results strongly demonstrates the capability of PF and its phytochemicals to modulate the ser/thr phosphorylation state of IRS1 by downregulating the serine 307 phosphorylation while simultaneously upregulating the tyrosine phosphorylation of IRS1. The results also indicate the ability of the same to alleviate inflammation in alloxan induced diabetes by modulating the expression of the insulin sensitizing hormone adiponectin and the pro-inflammatory cytokines L-6 and TNF-α.