A Review on the Ethnopharmacology, Phytochemistry and Pharmacology of Natural Phytochemicals used for Ameliorating/preventing SARS-CoV-2
Arjun Singh*
Department of Medicine, Sidney Kimmel Medical College,
Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, United States.
*Corresponding Author E-mail: arjunphar@gmail.com
ABSTRACT:
It is usually spread by unprotected close contact with sick people via virus-laden droplets and aerosols. Because of its unique nature, the host has no immune defence. As of June 21, 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) had received reports of 178,202,610 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 3, 865,738 deaths5.
Because of the severity of this outbreak and its rapid worldwide spread, WHO declared it a global health emergency on January 31, 2020. 3 WHO classified this as coronavirus illness 2019 in February 20201-5. (COVID-19). According to WHO data on January 6, 2022, about 296.4 million COVID-19 cases have been registered worldwide, with 5.46 million deaths. This infectious disease has widespread symptoms ranging from asymptomatic patients to standard flu symptoms such as cough, sore throat, fever, headache, body discomfort, dyspnoea, and acute respiratory distress syndrome. Some individuals also complained of gastrointestinal issues, such as stomach pain and diarrhoea. COVID-19 patients may present with a severe viral infection, a reduced immunological system, and eventually develop substantial cytokine storms, lung fibrosis lesion, and multiorgan failure, which can lead to death6.
COVID-19 has been treated using a variety of approaches. These include RNA-dependent RNA polymerase inhibitors such as Remdesivir, Ribavirin, and Favipiravir; protease inhibitors such as Lopinavir/ritonavir; endosomal acidification inhibitors (azithromycin, Chloroquine, and hydroxychloroquine); monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies; adjunctive treatments (Tocilizumab) for decreasing IL-6 in cytokine storm. COVID-19 symptoms are non-specific and range from asymptomatic to severe pneumonia, which includes fever, coughing, shortness of breath, and death. COVID-19 symptoms include headache, fatigue, anosmia, sore throat, increased sputum production, rhinorrhea, anorexia, dyspnea, pleurisy, skin sensitivity, hemoptysis, myalgias, and diarrhea. An infected person may develop pathological signs such as moderate respiratory problems with fever after an average incubation time of 5-6 days following infection. Many case reports revealed that the mortality rate increases with age, with people over 80 years old having the highest mortality rate and people over 60 years old having other disorders such as diabetes, hypertension, chronic respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, and cancer having the lowest mortality rate7.
METHODS:
Materials:
A phytopharmaceutical preparation derived solely from a whole plant or portions of a plant (flower, leaves, bark, stem, rhizome, root) or its exudates is referred to as an herbal intervention (resins, latex, gums) It is utilized either in its natural state or as a pure pharmaceutical formulation, such as extracts, juice, dry powder, decoction, and so on, after distillation, extraction, filtration, and so on. These are high in active metabolites, alkaloids, and flavonoids, which are responsible for their pharmacological activity. The importance of therapeutic herbs from various traditional medicine systems, as well as herbs-derived secondary metabolites, is discussed in this Review from a mechanistic standpoint for post-COVID related problems8-9.
Major Plant chemical used for acute pancreatitis:
The active phytochemical elements of herbal formulations or medications, such as alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenoids, phenols, polyphenols, tannins, saponins, polysaccharides, proteins, lipids, and peptides, are responsible for their pharmacological action. The herbal medications utilized contain antipyretic, anti-inflammatory, expectorant, anti-asthmatic, antitussive, and antiviral activities that serve a variety of roles against virus invasion, penetration, reproduction, and expression. Potential SARS-CoV-2 protease inhibitors include Allium cepa, Aloe vera, Azadirachta indica, Cannabis sativa, Curcuma longa, Glycyrrhiza glabra, Nyctanthes arbortristis, Ocimum sanctum, Withania sominifera, and Zingiber officinale7-10.
Many natural compounds have broad-spectrum antiviral action and have been utilized to treat SARS, MERS, influenza, and dengue virus. Major chemicals structures depict the chemical structures of bioactive phytomolecules that may be effective in the treatment of COVID-19-related problems. Furthermore, they have been reported to be immunomodulators, reducing the inflammatory impact that is responsible for the considerable morbidity and mortality associated with COVID-19 infection. The putative inhibitory mechanism of medicinal plants/products against SARS-CoV-2 viral replication is depicted in Figure. However, the phytochemicals may be harmful at high concentrations. However, the phytochemicals may be hazardous at certain quantities, thus in vitro and in vivo investigations are required to determine the safe and therapeutic levels for each natural ingredient before human clinical trials can begin. In their study, the focus on the potential usefulness of vitamins, probiotics, and nutraceuticals in reducing the likelihood of SARS-CoV-2 infection or moderating the symptoms of COVID-1910-17.
Major phytochemicals used for ameliorating or preventing SARS-CoV-2
Biological activities and clinical research:
Based on the evidence presented here, we observed a more favourable effect in reducing the duration of COVID-19 symptoms (e.g., fever, cough, fatigue), as well as an improvement in the effect rate, WBC count, absolute lymphocyte count, lymphocyte percentage, and C-Reactive protein level in patients treated with herbal plus. Standard treatment against patients treated solely with standard care (Western drugs). This indicates that herbal intervention has a beneficial supporting impact in the reduction of COVID-19 symptoms18. Herbal drugs used in conjunction with Western treatment improve COVID-19 symptoms faster than normal care alone. The sooner the symptoms go away, the faster you will recover from the ailment. As a result, it could be a significant replacement for better COVID-19 disease control and a reduction in overall therapy time. More high-quality clinical trials with a large sample size (study with an adequate method for random allocation to minimize selection bias, proper blinding of participants, investigators, statisticians, outcome and result analysts to eliminate detection bias with performance bias) are needed to provide stronger evidence of the benefits of herbal intervention in conjunction with Western medicine. Furthermore, the trial investigators should examine for the establishment of fundamental outcome sets, such as the COS-COVID-like parameter. 60 This will be extremely useful in standardizing the evaluation of the effect of herbal medicine. Following that, clinical research investigating the benefits of herbal drugs on COVID-19 disease with variable degree of symptoms should be considered; as the severity varies, so will the effect19-28.
DISCUSSION:
Recent research has demonstrated the effectiveness of Traditional medicinal herbs/herbal preparations are promising candidates for the treatment and management of a variety of illnesses by revitalizing human wealth. Ayurveda and Siddha methods are still widely employed in India to maintain human well-being. It is possible to properly define medicinal herbs that could aid to reduce the SARS-CoV-2 viral infection by identifying specific phytocompounds. As a result, by repurposing Indian medicinal herbs, new innovative therapeutic options can be developed to combat this viral pandemic and post-COVID complications. We systematically summarized and assessed the pharmacological significance of herbs and herbs-derived secondary metabolites that may be useful against COVID-19-related illnesses in this review21-29. Pharmacologically, several therapeutic strategies have been proposed for the development of COVID-19 treatments, including antivirals (e.g., ribavirin, sofosbuvir, lopinavir/ritonavir, remi- desivir, favipiravir, etc.) and antimalarials (hydroxy- chloroquine), anti-inflammatory drugs (e. To treat COVID-19 symptoms in China, three patent herbal medications, Lianhuaqingwen capsules and Jinhuaqinggan granules for moderate circumstances and Xuebijing (injectable) for severe problems, were licensed. Following the acute phase of COVID-19, the majority of patients experienced clinically significant physical and mental adverse effects that impacted their quality of life. Such negative effects were not isolated; rather, it is recognized as a multi-organ illness with an elevated risk of indolent death. This may provide a more sensible phytotherapeutic option for improving overall well-being by counteracting the biological difficulties caused by for COVID-19 patients30-44.
CONCLUSION:
The findings of this systematic review indicate that using herbal remedies as an adjunct to Western Medicine treatment has an additional good effect and is likely to help relieve the core symptoms of COVID-19 disease (e.g., fever, cough, exhaustion) in a comparatively shorter length of time. The effect rate, chest CT pictures, WBC count, absolute lymphocyte count, lymphocyte percentage, and C-Reactive protein level all improved. However, because of the scarcity of high-quality clinical trials and the significant degree of variability in the included research, a more definitive conclusion on the effects of herbal therapies on lowering body temperature and adverse effects could not be reached at this time. There are some differences in the therapeutic effects of different herbal therapies. Despite the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic is still ongoing, significant progress has been made in pathogen monitoring, identifying sources, fundamental etiology, and clinical therapy. Herbs from ancient systems of medicine may be beneficial in reducing disease symptoms, but more research is needed to fully understand their therapeutic potential. In the future, including traditional medicine into conventional treatment may be an alternative way for treating COVID-19. The worldwide situation, however, is dire, and countless questions remain unresolved. It will take the united efforts of traditional and Western medical institutions around the world to finally put an end to this pandemic.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST:
The author has no conflicts of interest.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:
The author would like to thank NCBI, PubMed and Web of Science for the free database services for their kind support during this study.
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Received on 19.12.2022 Modified on 10.04.2023
Accepted on 24.07.2023 ©AJRC All right reserved
Asian J. Research Chem. 2023; 16(6):467-472.
DOI: 10.52711/0974-4150.2023.00077