Medicinal Properties of Clinacanthus nutans: A review

To date, medicinal plants are the most important resources in the discovery of new drugs. Clinacanthus nutans has been used traditionally in Thailand folk medicine to promote overall well-being. A few biological constituents of C. nutans and their physiological functions have been evaluated in previous studies. However, the mechanisms of action, potency and efficacy of the plant are still not well understood. In this review, the pharmacological properties of C. nutans such as anti-inflammatory effects, anti-proliferation, anti-venom and anti-bacterial activities, and their underlying mechanisms of action are presented and discussed.Keywords:  Clinacanthus nutans: Anti-inflammatory, Anti-proliferation, Anti-venom, Anti-bacterial propertie

Association among Lifestyle and Risk Factors with SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a major health burden worldwide, with over 600 million confirmed cases and 6 million deaths by 15 December 2022. Although the acute phase of COVID-19 management has been established, the long-term clinical course and complications due to the relatively short outbreak is yet to be assessed. The current COVID-19 pandemic is causing significant morbidity and mortality around the world. Interestingly, epidemiological studies have shown that fatality rates vary considerably across different countries, and men and elderly patients are at higher risk of developing severe diseases. There is increasing evidence that COVID-19 infection causes neurological deficits in a substantial proportion to patients suffering from acute respiratory distress syndrome. Furthermore, lack of physical activity and smoking are associated with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) susceptibility. We should therefore explore why lack of physical activity, smoking, etc causing a population more susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection, and mechanism involved. Thus, in this review article, we summarize epidemiological evidence related to risk factors and lifestyle that affect COVID-19 severity and the mechanism involved. These risk factors or lifestyle interventions include smoking, cardiovascular health, obesity, exercise, environmental pollution, psychosocial social stress, and diet

In vitro study of modulatory effects of Strobilanthes crispus extracts on human cDNA-expressed cytochrome P450 2A6 (CYP2A6) and CYP3A4

Aim: Cytochrome P450 (CYP) 2A6 and CYP3A4 play important roles in biotransformation of endogenous substances as well as xenobiotics. Strobilanthes crispus (L.) Blume (S. crispus) has been found to have anti-cancer activities and this was suggested to be due to inhibition of enzymes involved in metabolic activation of procarcinogens. The purpose of this study was to look into the potential inhibitory effects of various extracts (aqueous, hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, and methanol) of S. crispus from leaf and stem on human cDNA-expressed CYP2A6 and CYP3A4 activities. Methods: The activity of CYP2A6 was examined via a fluorescence-based 7-hydroxylase coumarin assay. Meanwhile, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-based testosterone 6β-hydroxylase assay was established to assess CYP3A4 activity. Results: It was shown that none of the extracts from both leaf and stem potently inhibited CYP2A6 and CYP3A4 activities with IC50values above 100μg/ml. Conclusion: The anticancer potency of S. crispus is unlikely due to the modulation of CYP2A6 and CYP3A4 activities, while other mechanisms might be involved and merits further investigation. On the other hand, potential drug-herb interactions occurring between CYP2A6 and CYP3A4 substrates and S. crispus preparations is relatively low, which requires further investigations via in vivo animal as well as clinical studies

A Review on Medicinal Properties of Orientin

Medicinal plants continue to play an important role in modern medications and healthcare as consumers generally believe that most of them cause fewer or milder adverse effects than the conventional modern medicines. In order to use the plants as a source of medicinal agents, the bioactive compounds are usually extracted from plants. Therefore, the extraction of bioactive compounds from medicinal plants is a crucial step in producing plant-derived drugs. One of the bioactive compounds isolable from medicinal plants, orientin, is often used in various bioactivity studies due to its extensive beneficial properties. The extraction of orientin in different medicinal plants and its medicinal properties, which include antioxidant, antiaging, antiviral, antibacterial, anti-inflammation, vasodilatation and cardioprotective, radiation protective, neuroprotective, antidepressant-like, antiadipogenesis, and antinociceptive effects, are discussed in detail in this review

Melatonin prevents oxidative stress-induced mitochondrial dysfunction and apoptosis in high glucose-treated schwann cells via upregulation of Bcl2, NF-κb, mTOR, wnt signalling pathways

Neuropathy is a complication that affects more than 50% of long-standing diabetic patients. One of the causes of diabetes neuropathy (DN) is the apoptosis of Schwann cells due to prolonged exposure to high glucose and build-up of oxidative stress. Melatonin is a hormone that has a known antioxidant property. In this study, we investigated the protective effect of melatonin on high glucose-induced Schwann cells’ apoptosis. Our results revealed that high glucose promoted apoptosis via mitochondrial-related oxidative stress and downregulated Bcl-2 family proteins in Schwann cells. In this signalling pathway, Bcl-2, Bcl-XL and Mcl-1 proteins were down-regulated while p-BAD and Puma proteins were up-regulated by high glucose treatment. Besides, we also proved that high glucose promoted apoptosis in Schwann cells through decreasing the p-NF-κB in the NF-κB signalling pathway. Key regulators of mTOR signalling pathway such as p-mTOR, Rictor and Raptor were also down-regulated after high glucose treatment. Additionally, high glucose treatment also decreased the Wnt signalling pathway downstream proteins (Wnt 5a/b, p-Lrp6 and Axin). Our results showed that melatonin treatment significantly inhibited high glucose-induced ROS generation, restored mitochondrial membrane potential and inhibited high glucose-induced apoptosis in Schwann cells. Furthermore, melatonin reversed the alterations of protein expression caused by high glucose treatment. Our results concluded that melatonin alleviates high glucose-induced apoptosis in Schwann cells through mitigating mitochondrial-related oxidative stress and the alterations of Bcl-2, NF-κB, mTOR and Wnt signalling pathways