Mast cell stabilization potential of Sitopaladi churna: An ayurvedic formulation

Integrative practice in Asia - India and China

Traditional medical practice in the world has maintained its popularity in spite of the challenges of the rapid development of modern medicine. The World Health Organization observed that 80% of world population still rely on traditional practices of special cultural heritages. In Asia, the traditional practices include mainly that of the Middle East, India and China. The 3000 years of development in the three different regions has resulted in cross-cultural influences and exchanges, particularly revealed in the rich collections of medicinal herbs. Ayurveda medicine has well maintained its traditional philosophy and practice. It has enjoyed very substantial governmental support on the national level and has remained popular. Traditional Chinese Medicine, likewise, has kept its popularity and vibrance. However, with the ever advancing modern medicine which is giving efficient acute care and specific solutions to known target areas of clinical concern, are unavoidable obstacles to an integrative practice. Besides India, China is the only country in the world where Traditional Medicine is still playing a major role in national health care. During the COVID-19 pandemic both Ayurveda and Chinese Medicine practitioners tried hard to contribute by offering integrative treatment to the infected patients. They were getting a lot of national and professional endorsements. One would speculate that with this unknown virus and diverse clinical presentations, a better integrative program would be able to provide better outcome. On the prevention side, medicinal herbs are expected to be able to boost up the innate immunity of the individual so that infection could be better resisted. Given the similarities between the Indian and Chinese Systems of traditional practice, it is suggested that Ayurveda and Chinese Medicine could develop a joint mission with combined efforts, to collaborate in research and trials, with the aim of consolidating Integrative Practice. This article concentrates on the Indian and Chinese areas of traditional practice, viz. Ayurveda and Chinese Medicine.

COVID-19 pandemic: A pragmatic plan for ayurveda intervention

World community is facing an unprecedented pandemic of novel corona virus disease (COVID-19) caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona virus 2 (SARS-CoV- 2). The disease has spread globally with more than 1.43 million confirmed cases and 82,100 deaths as of April 8, 2020. Despite worldwide efforts to contain it, the pandemic is continuing to spread for want of a clinically-proven prophylaxis and therapeutic strategy. The dimensions of pandemic require an urgent harnessing of all knowledge systems available globally. Utilization of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Wuhan to treat COVID-19 cases sets the example demonstrating that traditional health care can contribute to treatment of these patients successfully. Drawing on the Ayurveda classics, contemporary scientific studies, and experiential knowledge on similar clinical settings, here we propose a pragmatic plan for intervention in India. We provide a plan for graded response, depending on the stage of infection among individuals, in a population. Notwithstanding the fact that no system of medicine has any evidence-based treatment for COVID-19 as yet, clinical interventions are required to be put in place. Therefore, pragmatic strategy proposed here for Ayurveda system of medicine requires immediate implementation. It will facilitate learning, generate evidence and shall be a way forward.

An observational study on acceptability, palatability, and safety of Ayurveda immunity booster kit for the prevention of COVID-19 in frontline workers in Jaipur, India

Background

National Institute of Ayurveda, Jaipur, India, had distributed Ayurveda immunity booster kit (AIBK) (prepared at own pharmacy and comprising Chyawanprasha - 300 g, Vyadhi Kshamatva Kwatha - 300 g, and Vyadhi Kshamatva capsule - 30 g) for 15 days among the health-care workers, sanitation workers, and security and police staff engaged in the containment zones for prevention of COVID-19.

Aim

The aim of present study was to explore the medication that may be effective in prevention of the COVID -19. Hence, this study was done to assess the compliance of these medicines and their effects in the prevention of COVID-19.

Methods

One thousand seven hundred and fourteen frontline workers were provided with the AIBK for 15 days from April 24, 2020, to June 27, 2020. Data of frontline workers who had participated in AIBK and completed the treatment regimen with 2 weeks of follow-up after treatment with complete available data for safety, palatability, efficacy, and compliance were included in the study. Any adverse event needing hospitalization or medication, drug compliance and palatability, and appearance of the symptoms of COVID-19 or testing positive for COVID-19 were the outcome measures.

Results

Out of 1714 participants, 1003 participants were found to be eligible for this analysis. The median age of these participants was 39 years (range, 19-70), and males accounted for 90.1% (904 of 1003). A total of 7.5% of participants (75 of 1003) reported having adverse events after taking the study treatment. None of the participants reported any serious adverse effects after the administration of the AIBK. The acceptability of the AIBK was as high as 97.4%. None of the participants reported positive for COVID-19 results or COVID-19 symptoms up to 2 weeks of follow-up after completion of the study treatment.

Conclusion

The acceptability of AIBK is good and indicates its role in the prevention of COVID-19-like illness, hence further randomized control trials or cohort studies can be done to assess the mechanism of action and efficacy of AIBK as the preventive strategy in COVID-19.

Quality Assessment of Sitopaladi Churna Using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Coupled with Multivariate Analysis

"Sitopaladi churna," a well-known formulation of Ayurveda, is prescribed to treat the disease like Bronchitis, Pneumonia, allergic conditions, viral infection of the respiratory tract and as a natural antioxidant. A novel method based on reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) coupled to photodiode array detector was established and validated for sitopaladi churna. Here, HPLC fingerprints data obtained for 28 samples including standard sample were then treated to chemometric analysis like principal component analysis and hierarchical clustering analysis for further analysis to evaluate the differences in market samples of sitopaladi churna. Additionally, one major marker compound, piperine was quantified and it also facilitated for relative retention time. The simulative mean spectrum was also generated. The validation results showed that the developed method was simple, precise and stable. Thus, the developed chromatographic method adjoined with multivariate analysis can be used as an efficient and practical approach for quality assessment of sitopaladi churna.

Ayurveda and Allopathic Therapeutic Strategies in Coronavirus Pandemic Treatment 2020

Purpose of Review

In the last month of 2019, i.e., December, COVID-19 hit Wuhan city in China. Since then, it has infected more than 210 countries and nearly about 33.4 million people with one million deaths globally. It is a viral disease with flu-like symptoms; hence, prevention and management is the best option to be adopted for its cure.

Recent Findings

Many healthcare systems, scientists, and researchers are fighting for the cure of this pandemic. Ayurvedic and allopathic treatments have been studied extensively and approached for the cure of COVID-19. In addition to ayurvedic treatments, the Ministry of Ayush, India, has also recommended many remedies to boost up immunity. Allopathic studies involved several antiviral drugs which were used in different combinations for the treatment of COVID-19.

Summary

Comparative analysis of Ayurveda and allopathic treatment strategies were carried out in the present study. Depending upon the patient’s conditions and symptoms, Ayurveda is useful for the treatment of COVID-19. Allopathic treatments inhibit viral infection by targeting majorly endocytosis, and angiotensin-converting enzyme (Ace) receptor signaling. In this article, we summarize different ayurvedic and allopathic medicines and treatment strategies which have been used for the treatment of COVID-19, a global pandemic.

Principles of Rajayakshma management for COVID-19

The pandemic spread of corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a global threat. No cure is available for this condition till date. Ayurveda, may come to rescue in these times of COVID-19 spread. In this review we have analyzed that the COVID-19 has analogy with the Rajayakshma (∼a wasting disease indicating suboptimum immune response) and the established treatment of Rajayakshma disease can be proposed for preventive as well as curative purpose.