Antidiabetic plants and formulations used by folk medicinal practitioners of two villages in Narail and Chuadanga districts, Bangladesh

Diabetes is a debilitating disease affecting millions of people worldwide including Bangladesh. Recent years have witnessed a significant rise of diabetes in both urban and rural areas of Bangladesh because of dietary habits and a more sedentary lifestyle. The disease has no known cure in modern allopathic medicine; in fact modern medicine merely attempts to control the symptoms of diabetes like increased blood sugar levels, and tries to mitigate the various other complicated problems that can arise out of diabetes like increased cardiovascular risks, diabetic retinopathy, diabetic neuropathy, and kidney failure, to name only a few. On the other hand, folk medicinal practitioners of Bangladesh have been treating diabetes for centuries and claim to have effective treatments for the disease as well as treatment for mitigating other symptoms arising from diabetes. The folk medicinal practitioners (known usually as Kavirajes) use both simple and complex formulations of medicinal plants for treatment of the disease. It was the objective of the present survey to conduct a survey among the Kavirajes of two randomly selected villages in Narail and Chuadanga districts, Bangladesh to collect information on medicinal plants and formulations used by the Kavirajes for treatment of diabetes. It was observed that the Kavirajes of the two villages surveyed used a total of 24 medicinal plants or plant parts for treatment. While some treatment formulations consisted of only a single medicinal plant, there were also complex formulations involving multiple plant parts. A perusal of the relevant scientific literature indicated that a number of the plants used by the Kavirajes for treatment of diabetes had been reported to possess antidiabetic properties. The plants reported in the present survey thus present considerable potential for further scientific research towards finding novel lead compounds for treatment of diabetes

Medicinal plants used for preventive medicinal purposes: A survey in Muktipara village, Chuadanga district, Bangladesh

Bangladesh has over 5,000 floral species, approximately a fifth of which are considered as medicinal plants. Such plants form the major base of formulations prescribed by folk medicinal practitioners, otherwise known as Kavirajes, for treatment of diverse ailments. Kavirajes are present in almost every villages of the around 86,000 villages of the country and play a major role in providing primary health care to the rural residents. In our various ethnomedicinal surveys, we noticed that Kavirajes prescribe plants for not only curative but also for preventive purposes. Since such plants can play a major role in avoidance of diseases and so save health-care costs, the objective of the present survey was to document the various plants that were advised by the practicing Kaviraj of Muktipara village in Chuadanga district of Bangladesh. A total of 11 plants distributed into 11 families were found to be advised by the Kaviraj to village residents to be taken at different times of the year towards prevention of several common ailments. The various ailments against which the plants were prescribed included respiratory tract infections like coughs, colds and mucus, syndromes produced by excessive exposure to sun's heat, hemorrhoids, skin disorders, chicken pox, and flatulency or bloating, i.e. formation of excessive gas in the stomach. Interviews with the rural households of the village indicated that the plants do give positive effects for which the plants are advised to be taken, indicating that these plants can form as good sources of preventive medicine. Since prevention of disease is much more desirable than occurrence of a disease followed by its cure, the plants merit considerable potential for studies to establish them as functional foods

A review of scientific literature on anti-diabetic activity in medicinal plants used by folk medicinal practitioners of two villages in Narail and Chuadanga districts, Bangladesh for treatment of diabetes

An ethnomedicinal survey conducted amongst folk medicinal practitioners (Kavirajes) of two villages in Narail and Chuadanga districts of Bangladesh revealed the use of twenty four medicinal plant species for treatment of diabetes or alleviating diabetic symptoms in human patients. Perusal of the available scientific literature on the anti-diabetic plant species showed that out of the twenty four medicinal plants used, fifteen plant species have been reported in the scientific literature to possess considerable anti-diabetic properties directly in the form of ability to reduce blood sugar following administration, or possess properties, which can alleviate diabetic symptoms or reduce the risk factors for diabetes, including anti-oxidant and hypolipidemic properties. Overall, it can be concluded that the considerable expertise gained by the Kavirajes through longterm practice as well as passage of accumulated knowledge from generation to generation has practical validity and is not based on superstitions or myths about these plants. The close coincidences between the use of medicinal plants by the Kavirajes and their real time scientific validity studies suggest that these plants (some of which are yet to be scientifically studied) have considerable potential for discovery of novel anti-diabetic agents. Diabetes is a debilitating disease affecting millions of people worldwide including Bangladesh, and for which allopathic medicine has no known cure. As such, discovery of novel anti-diabetic agents, which even though they may not cause complete cure, but can alleviate various diabetic symptoms in a more efficient manner or reduce the risk factors leading to diabetes will be of considerable benefit to mankind. As such, these medicinal plants used by the Kavirajes need to be scientifically studied in a more rigorous manner, and efforts should be made to collect information from other Kavirajes in other villages and towns of Bangladesh on anti-diabetic plants and formulations for their uses

Plants prescribed for both preventive and therapeutic purposes by the traditional healers of the bede community residing by the turag river, dhaka district

The Bede community people are an indigenous community of Bangladesh and because of their preference for living and travelling on boats are also known as the river gypsies. They seldom reside for long at any given place but travel constantly on the waterways to ply their trade at various riverside villages. The community keeps mostly to themselves except when interacting with village people to sell sundry items, catch snakes, and practice their traditional medicinal system, which consists of cupping (drawing blood) and selling medicinal products containing plant, animal or fish parts. Medicinal plants form the chief item in their formulations for treatment of diverse ailments. The community has various professional groups within them based on their profession, among which one such group being the Dhanantari Vaidyas, who supposedly are able to cure all diseases. In recent times, the Government is trying to settle them by various riversides so as to enable them to get access to education and modern health care. The older generation, however, still prefer their traditional medicines to allopathic medicines. One such Bede group was located by the Turag River in Kamar Para village on the outskirts of Dhaka city in Dhaka district, Bangladesh. During the course of an ethnomedicinal survey among this community, it was observed that the Dhanantari Vaidyas advocated consumption of a number of plants in the cooked form for not only therapeutic but also preventive purposes. It was the objective of the present study to document the use of these plants. It was observed that 32 plant species were prescribed by the Vaidyas for regular consumption (preventive) or consumption during times when a particular disease occurred (therapeutic). These species were distributed into 20 families; the Fabaceae family contributed 4 species, while the Amaranthaceae, Asteraceae, and Cucurbitaceae families provided 3 plants each. Most of the plants were leafy vegetables with their leaves and stems prescribed for consumption following cooking; however, a few of them had their roots or fruits prescribed for consumption without cooking. Four plants (Allium cepa, Allium sativum, Capsicum frutescens and Coriandrum sativum) were used as accessories when cooking other plants. Among these four plants, Allium sativum was also used by itself for prevention and treatment of any type of dysentery and stomach problems, and Coriandrum sativum used by itself for prevention and treatment of gastrointestinal disorders and to increase appetite. Only two plant (Eclipta alba and Curcuma longa) parts were administered topically. Consumption of plants or plant parts for preventive purposes can be a cost-effective form of health care. As such, the plants prescribed for consumption by the Dhantari Vaidyas of the Bedes merit further scientific studies to assess their full curative potentials

Medicinal plants used by folk medicinal practitioners in three randomly surveyed villages of Rajbari district, Bangladesh

Medicinal plants form an important and often the only component in the formulations used by the folk medicinal practitioners of Bangladesh for treatment of various ailments. Folk medicinal practitioners, otherwise known as Kavirajes, perform an integral role in the delivery of primary health-care to substantial segments of both rural and urban population of the country. Their traditional medicinal practice, which is generally referred to as folk medicinal practice, is different from other forms of traditional medicine in Bangladesh like Ayurveda and Unani forms of traditional medicine. Kavirajes use simple formulations of medicinal plants, and their practice is often confined to the immediate family and passed on through successive generations. Thus over the centuries, Kavirajes have gained not only extensive knowledge on medicinal plants but also each Kaviraj has his or her own unique list of plants, which he or she uses in formulations. Bangladesh has over 86,000 villages with each village containing one or two practicing Kavirajes. To get a comprehensive view of the medicinal plants of Bangladesh, it is therefore important to conduct extensive interviews of individual Kavirajes of both urban and rural areas. Towards obtaining such comprehensive information, the present ethnomedicinal survey was conducted among the Kavirajes of three randomly surveyed villages of Rajbari district in Bangladesh to document their use of medicinal plants and the ailments treated by those plants. Information was obtained from the Kavirajes with the help of a semi-structured questionnaire and the guided field-walk method. The results showed that the Kavirajes of the three villages surveyed used a total of 46 plants distributed into 31 families in their formulations. The Fabaceae family provided 6 plants, while the Acanthaceae, Lamiaceae and Zingiberaceae families provided three plants each. Leaves constituted the major plant part used, constituting over 50% of the total uses. Other major plant parts used were roots and stems. The various ailments treated included gastrointestinal disorders, cuts and wounds, fever, respiratory tract disorders, snake bites, pain, menstrual problems, physical weakness, diabetes, mental disorders, cardiovascular disorders, skin disorders, chicken pox, burns, spermatorrhea, bone fractures, and cattle ailments. Medicinal plants from time immemorial have proved an excellent source of medicines and this trend has continued even in recent times. As such, the medicinal plants documented in the present survey have enormous potential for further scientific research, which can lead to discovery of better medicines. At the same time, a resurgence of interest in medicinal plants can lead to their wide-spread conservation, which is important because a number of medicinal plants have become endangered through spread of human habitat and loss of primary and secondary forests

Whole-genome sequencing reveals host factors underlying critical COVID-19

Altres ajuts: Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC); Illumina; LifeArc; Medical Research Council (MRC); UKRI; Sepsis Research (the Fiona Elizabeth Agnew Trust); the Intensive Care Society, Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellowship (223164/Z/21/Z); BBSRC Institute Program Support Grant to the Roslin Institute (BBS/E/D/20002172, BBS/E/D/10002070, BBS/E/D/30002275); UKRI grants (MC_PC_20004, MC_PC_19025, MC_PC_1905, MRNO2995X/1); UK Research and Innovation (MC_PC_20029); the Wellcome PhD training fellowship for clinicians (204979/Z/16/Z); the Edinburgh Clinical Academic Track (ECAT) programme; the National Institute for Health Research, the Wellcome Trust; the MRC; Cancer Research UK; the DHSC; NHS England; the Smilow family; the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health (CTSA award number UL1TR001878); the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania; National Institute on Aging (NIA U01AG009740); the National Institute on Aging (RC2 AG036495, RC4 AG039029); the Common Fund of the Office of the Director of the National Institutes of Health; NCI; NHGRI; NHLBI; NIDA; NIMH; NINDS.Critical COVID-19 is caused by immune-mediated inflammatory lung injury. Host genetic variation influences the development of illness requiring critical care or hospitalization after infection with SARS-CoV-2. The GenOMICC (Genetics of Mortality in Critical Care) study enables the comparison of genomes from individuals who are critically ill with those of population controls to find underlying disease mechanisms. Here we use whole-genome sequencing in 7,491 critically ill individuals compared with 48,400 controls to discover and replicate 23 independent variants that significantly predispose to critical COVID-19. We identify 16 new independent associations, including variants within genes that are involved in interferon signalling (IL10RB and PLSCR1), leucocyte differentiation (BCL11A) and blood-type antigen secretor status (FUT2). Using transcriptome-wide association and colocalization to infer the effect of gene expression on disease severity, we find evidence that implicates multiple genes-including reduced expression of a membrane flippase (ATP11A), and increased expression of a mucin (MUC1)-in critical disease. Mendelian randomization provides evidence in support of causal roles for myeloid cell adhesion molecules (SELE, ICAM5 and CD209) and the coagulation factor F8, all of which are potentially druggable targets. Our results are broadly consistent with a multi-component model of COVID-19 pathophysiology, in which at least two distinct mechanisms can predispose to life-threatening disease: failure to control viral replication; or an enhanced tendency towards pulmonary inflammation and intravascular coagulation. We show that comparison between cases of critical illness and population controls is highly efficient for the detection of therapeutically relevant mechanisms of disease