Traditional Herbal Remedies with a Multifunctional Therapeutic Approach as an Implication in COVID-19 Associated Co-Infections

Co-infection in patients with viral infection as a predisposing factor is less focused on during epidemic outbreaks, resulting in increased morbidity and mortality. Recent studies showed that patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) often have both bacterial and fungal co-infections. In this study, sputum samples of 120 OPD (outdoor patients) suffering from respiratory tract infection (RTI) but negative for tuberculosis infection were collected with informed consent. Morphological, biochemical, and resistance criteria were used to classify isolates and to distinguish multidrug resistant (MDR) isolates, which were further classified on a molecular basis. We found that the isolates, including MDR strains, showed remarkable sensitivity against acetone and methanol extracts of Moringa oleifera, Adhatoda vasica, and Cassia fistula. The results strongly confirmed that multifactorial infections can produce MDR characteristics against antimicrobial drugs, which gave insight into the use of herbal drugs with their age-old traditional importance as having antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory effects. We conclude that apart from this, the anti-infective potential of these plants can be used in the future in the form of products such as cosmetics, pharmaceutical coatings, surface coatings, drug delivery vehicle coatings, and other bioengineered coatings for public use. Future studies are required to assess therapeutics for co-infective resistant strains and nosocomial infections with immune-enhancing effects, thereby promoting their function in holistic treatment and therapy of COVID-19 patients

Validating Anti-Infective Activity of Pleurotus Opuntiae via Standardization of Its Bioactive Mycoconstituents through Multimodal Biochemical Approach

Mushrooms produce a variety of bioactive compounds that are known to have anti-pathogenic properties with safer and effective therapeutic effects in human disease prognosis. The antibacterial activity of ethanol and methanol extracts of Pleurotus opuntiae were checked against pathogenic microorganisms viz. Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853, Proteus mirabilis NCIM 2300, Proteus vulgaris NCIM 5266, Serratia marcescens NCIM 2078, Shigella flexeneri NCIM 5265, Moraxella sp. NCIM 2795, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 by agar well diffusion method at different concentrations of the extracts. Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC) of the extracts was determined by INT (Iodonitrotetrazolium chloride) colorimetric assay. Extracts were standardized by thin layer chromatography (TLC) in different solvent systems. The Retention factors (Rf) of different compounds were calculated by high performance TLC (HPTLC) fingerprinting at UV 254, 366, and 540 nm before and after derivatization. The ethanol and methanol extracts of P. opuntiae showed bactericidal activity against all the test pathogens at MIC values of 15.6 to 52.08 mg/mL and 20.81 to 52.08 mg/mL respectively. Whereas the MBC values for ethanol and methanol extract of P. opuntiae against all pathogens were recorded as 26.03 to 62.5 mg/mL and 125 mg/mL respectively. Preliminary mycochemical screening of both the extracts revealed high contents of bioactive compounds. Amongst all the solvent systems used in TLC, the best result was given by chloroform + hexane (8:2) which eluted out 5 different compounds (spots). HPTLC results revealed spots with different Rf values for all the 24 compounds present. Thus, it can be inferred from the present investigation that the mycoconstituents could be an alternative medication regimen and could play a role in new drug discoveries against different infections. Further, the antimicrobial components of these mushrooms can be transformed to bioengineered antimicrobial coatings for surfaces, drug and other hybrid systems for public health implications in combating persistent infections