Current Traditional Medicine - Volume 8, Issue 1, 2022

Garlic, Allium sativum L., is a culinary herb that has been employed medicinally since ancient times. Garlic has been regarded as the oldest of all cultivated plants. Various experimental as well as human studies have demonstrated that garlic is used in preventing the initiation and evolution of several ailments such as hypertension, atherosclerosis, diabetes mellitus, cancer, microbial infections, arthritis, thrombosis, and Alzheimer’s disease. It can also act as an anti-oxidant. The preclinical toxicity study gives an impression that garlic is safe, although allergic reactions may occur. Recently, there has been systematic research regarding garlic, and positive results have been attained in healing many diseases. For centuries many countries of different civilizations and continents protected their populations and healed themselves using garlic. Therefore, there is an augmented necessity of investigation on the history of garlic for the sake of strengthening the ability of physicians and pharmacists to deal with the challenges arising in the provision of specialized facilities to serve mankind. The present review provides morphological, pharmacological, and toxicological insight regarding garlic. Further studies are required to explicate the therapeutic mode of action of garlic along with its potency, effectiveness, and clinical wellbeing in the management of different ailments.

Orientin is a flavonoid C-glycoside found in many plants, and studies investigating its neuropharmacological benefits have received significant attention in recent years. Orientin has modulating effects on various neuropathological pathways such as Nrf2-ARE, PI3K/Akt, JNKERK1/ 2, and TLR4/NF-kB. Orientin, therefore, is evaluated for its benefits in various neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Huntington's disease. This paper reviews Orientin's neuroprotective mechanisms and benefits.

Background: Plants contributed numerous novel compounds for prophylactic and curative medicine to modern science. They are an important source of natural agents used in various pharmaceutical industries. Himalayan plants are abundant in various secondary metabolites, such as anthraquinones, flavonoids, tannins, alkaloids, and terpenes. The Himalayan plants are grown in high altitudes and have around 6500 years old history as traditional medicines. Aim: This review article systematically presents information on Himalayan medicinal plants having anti-cancer potentials. Methodology: Around 160 articles were reviewed using online search engines, like PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, Web of Science, and floras of different Himalayan countries. Results: An attempt has been made to review anti-cancer plants and active constituents isolated from several anti-cancerous plants of Himalayan regions. Eighty-three anti-cancer plants are reported in this review, and a total of twenty-two active chemical constituents, including phenolic compounds, glycosides, terpenoids, and alkaloids from the plants, were reported active against various cancer cell lines. Conclusion: Several synthetic agents are used to cure cancer, but many undesired side effects occur during chemotherapy. Hence, the research is going on to investigate natural therapies, such as the use of plant-derived products in cancer treatment. They may reduce adverse side effects.

The COVID-19 virus has become the most threatening infectious disease all over the world. From the beginning of the pandemic till today, a large number of researches have been conducted and are still going on to develop appropriate therapeutics that can prevent and cure this viral infection successfully. But unfortunately, modern western medicine could not find any effective drug that has no toxic effects on the host cell. TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) has shown promising effects against COVID-19. The TCM contains naturally occurring herbal decoctions, which have shown promising blocking of viral progression in the host cell. The ayurvedic formulations containing homeopathic medicine, unani medicine and yoga altogether can counteract the virus. However, the traditional medicine system is unable to cure properly, but it can be a possible prevention strategy to stop this virus’ pandemicity. This review focuses on how ayurvedic medicines, homeopathic treatment strategies and yoga can impact on preventing viral infection.

Background: Anxiety, a familiar form of psychiatric disorder, influences numerous persons throughout the world. These psychological disorders frequently need an enduring regime of recommended medicines and impose huge costs on human societies. For the last few decenniums, discovery in the field of natural neurophysiology garnered a lot of recognition because of its least side effects. Objective: Many people find it helpful to discover an effective herbal remedy for anxiety with fewer detrimental repercussions. The purpose of the present article is to report medicinal plant species used as anti-anxiety agents, which in turn, are helpful to develop new anti-anxiety herbal formulations. Methods: An unlimited, semantic electronic and manual exploration of PubMed, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature, ISI, Google Scholar, Elsevier's abstract and citation database, and the database libraries was carried using keywords such as medicinal plants, herbal drugs, traditional medicine, and anxiety for recognizing natural medications in the management of anxiety disorders. Results: Literary review collected the information of potential anti-anxiety plants. Data support the effectiveness of some popular herbal remedies by indicating high-quality scientific studies and support several clinically efficacious natural plants as anxiolytics. Conclusion: Evidence-based studies indicate that natural plant treatment is an efficient way to manage anxiety disorders; the benefits outweigh the risks.

Background: Scars can be a cosmetic disfigurement and can tremendously impact psychological, emotional, and social well-being. Some medicinal plants exert anti-scar properties via various mechanisms of action, many of which have not been clearly defined. Objective: This study will evaluate the effects of these medicinal plants with anti-scar properties and review the known underlying mechanisms related to the treatment and prevention of hypertrophic scars. Methods: The keywords used in the literature search included (Wound healing OR Re-epithelialization OR Regeneration) and (Medicinal plants OR Phyto* OR herb) and (Cytokines OR Collagen OR Fibroblasts). Publications indexed in the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) and PubMed databases were included in the review. Articles with no accessible full texts, non-English language articles, review articles, studies with non-positive effects, and studies that were not related to the study’s aim were excluded from the study. The agreement for exclusion required all authors to concur. Finally, after reviewing all available literature, 61 articles were included in this systematic review. Results: Currently available evidence shows that medicinal plants and their derivatives seem to have properties that can prevent hypertrophic scars. This is achieved by accelerating the scar healing process, reducing inflammatory cytokines, suppressing proliferation, and inducing apoptosis in scar fibroblasts by regulating several signaling pathways. Additionally, they can reduce collagen deposition and have antimicrobial effects at the wound site. Conclusion: Topical use of medicinal plants as complementary medicine with varying mechanisms of action can reduce scar formation. They exert these properties mainly due to their anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antimicrobial properties. Therefore, these mechanisms reduce the healing time of the wound and thus prevent the formation of hypertrophic scars. Medicinal plants can be used safely and efficiently when applied topically to improve or prevent hypertrophic scars.

Introduction: It is important to find tools to help patients and prevent viral diffusion of pneumonia caused by the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV or SARS-CoV-2). Recent articles have reported site-specific SARS-CoV-2 infection on a patient's body, specifically a very active replication in the throat and upper respiratory tract, even at the mild stage of the disease, which shows its efficient viral transmission in sputum. Materials and Methods: An alternative that may be feasible is to resort to scientific studies that demonstrate the antiviral potential of medicinal plants species through in-vitro and in-vivo experiments to alleviate symptoms and prevent the spread of contagion. A literature search on Scopus and PubMed on herbs and foods with antiviral properties was performed. Results: This resulted in hundreds of publications showing a diversity of plants with antiviral effects against different virus infections. This article focuses on plants that are of common use, which could act against COVID-19. Conclusion: Herbs and foods with demonstrated antiviral potential have been identified, limiting SARS-CoV-2 spread by interfering with ACE2 protein on infection sites. The analysis of transdisciplinary knowledge allows us to connect previous research on the action of common plants and foods on viruses to limit the replication of SARS-CoV-2 in the throat and upper respiratory tract.