Essential Oils of Some Potential Medicinal Plants and Their Wound Healing Activities

The wound has been recognised as a deep cut or tearing of the epidermis, which is also referred to as trauma and harm to the body tissues. Healing of wounds requires a coordinated series of cellular processes, including cell attraction, proliferation, differentiation, and angiogenesis. These processes involve interactions between various cells, such as macrophages, endothelial cells, keratinocytes, fibroblasts, growth hormones, and proteases. The outcome of wounds can be fatal if not treated properly, resulting in chronic wounds, chronic pain, and even death. Wound healing is replacing missing tissue with tissue repairs and regeneration. Some local variables are the presence of tissue maceration, foreign objects, biofilm, hypoxia, ischemia, and wound infection. Sustained growth factor delivery, siRNA delivery, micro-RNA targeting, and stem cell therapy are all emerging possible therapeutic approaches for wound healing. Traditional approaches, such as Ayurveda, Siddha, and Unani medicines, are also being used for treatment. The therapeutic application of nanoformulations in wound infections has shown various beneficial effects. Several herbal medicines, especially essential oils have shown potential wound healing activities, such as lavender, tea tree, sesame, olive, etc. Various nanoparticles and their nanoformulations have been explored in wound healing therapy. The present review article highlights several aspects of essential oils for wound healing activity through a novel drug delivery system. Further, some patents on wound healing through herbal medicine have been listed.

Scientometric assessment of scientific documents published in 2020 on herbal medicines used for COVID-19

Objective

Many studies have suggested herbal medicines as alternatives or adjuvants to modern drugs for COVID-19. Their scientometric analyses can provide a scientific overview of this topic.

Materials and methods

Web of Science (WOS) and Scopus were searched for articles on the use of herbal medicines in COVID-19 published until 26 October 2020. Collected data were analyzed for document type, subject area, top journal, citation number, and authors’ collaboration network using VOSviewer 1.6.15, ScientoPy 2.0.3, Gephi 0.9.2, and SPSS 15 statistical tools.

Results

After screening the 3185 retrieved records, 378 and 849 records, respectively from WOS and Scopus, remained for quantity analysis. Original and review articles were the two main types of papers in both databases. Top subject areas were drug and medicine, respectively in the WOS and Scopus databases. The top three productive countries in the field were China, the US, and India. The most cited article was a practice guideline in both databases. “Journal of Biomolecular Structure Dynamics” in WOS and “Chinese Traditional and Herbal Drugs” in Scopus were the top journals. Top keywords included “COVID-19″ and “Traditional Chinese Medicine”. US authors had the highest collaboration with other authors.

Conclusions

The current study provides a snapshot of the quantity and characteristics of published scholarly documents in recent months in the intersection of herbal medicines and COVID-19. Our findings help scientists to find the existing gaps, identify the active authors and scientific institutes to collaborate with and use their experience to produce new knowledge in the future.

The Modulatory Effects and Targets Prediction of Herbal Medicines or Phytochemicals on Cancer Immunosurveillance

Cancer is a main life-threatening disease worldwide. Due to the adverse effects of conventional chemotherapies and radiotherapies, immunotherapy has emerged as a potent strategy to treat cancer. In cancer immunotherapy, cancer immune surveillance plays a crucial role in the cancer process, which contains various effector cells from innate and adaptive immunity. This review summarized the functions of innate and adaptive immune cells in cancer immunosurveillance and their main reported targets. Moreover, the potential targets about the modulatory effects of cancer immunosurveillance were predicted using network-based target analysis, with total predicted pathways not only reporting previously reported pathways, but also putative signaling pathways pending for investigation. In addition, the potential use of herbal medicines and their phytochemicals in the modulation of cancer immunosurveillance were also discussed. Taken together, this review paper aims to provide scientific insight into further drug development, particularly herbs, phytochemicals, and TCM formulae, in the modulatory effects of cancer immunosurveillance.

Herbal Resources to Combat a Progressive & Degenerative Nervous System Disorder- Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson's disease is one of the most common adult-onset, a chronic disorder involving neurodegeneration, which progressively leads to deprivation of dopaminergic neurons in substantia nigra, causing a subsequent reduction of dopamine levels in the striatum resulting in tremor, myotonia, and dyskinesia. Genetics and environmental factors are believed to be responsible for the onset of Parkinson's disease. The exact pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease is quite complicated and the present anti-Parkinson's disease treatments appear to be clinically insufficient. Comprehensive researches have demonstrated the use of natural products such as ginseng, curcumin, ashwagandha, baicalein, etc. for the symptomatic treatment of this disease. The neuroprotective effects exhibited by these natural products are mainly due to their ability to increase dopamine levels in the striatum, manage oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, glutathione levels, clear the aggregation of α- synuclein, induce autophagy and decrease the pro-inflammatory cytokines and lipid peroxidation. This paper reviews various natural product studies conducted by scientists to establish the role of natural products (both metabolite extracts as well as pure metabolites) as adjunctive neuroprotective agents.

The Effects of Herbal Medicines on Women Sexual Dysfunction: A Systematic Review

Sexual health plays an important role in the women's health and quality of life. Sexual health management is a prerequisite for physical and psychological health of women. Sexual desire, arousal, and orgasm are three factors of female sexual response. So far many different methods has been known for the treatment of female sexual dysfunction, however none of them are not an efficacious therapy. Generally, use of herbal medicine is a safe and effective therapeutic method in the treatment of women with sexual dysfunction. The role of herbal and nutritional supplementation in female sexual function has attracted researchers' interest in recent years. This study aimed to the evaluation of the studies focusing on the herbal medicine on women sexual function and the assessment of its effectiveness.

Effect of the Mixed Herbal Medicines Extract (Fennel, Chamomile, and Saffron) on Menopause Syndrome: a Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

Introduction: Menopause is the transition from the reproductive phase of a woman to the non-reproductive. It may impair quality of life. The study aims to determine the effectiveness of mixed herbal medicines on menopause symptoms Methods: A randomized, triple-blind, clinical trial and placebo-controlled study on 120 peri-menopausal women aged 45-65 years for 12 weeks. All participants took herbal extracts drops orally daily and randomly allocated into four groups: placebo (C), A (250 mg chamomile, 30 mg fennel, 15 mg saffron), B (1000 mg, 120 mg, 60 mg), and D (500 mg, 60 mg, 30 mg). Primary outcome was the mean change in scores of the menopause rating scale that evaluates 11 symptoms. Results: The median (IQR) physical score significantly reduced from 8.5(4) to 2(3), in psych score reduced from 12(4) to 2 (2) and in urogenital score reduced from 6.5(3) to 3(2) in group B. In group D physical score decreased from 12(6) to 8(4), in psychological score reduced from12 (3) to 8(4) and urogenital score reduced from 7.5 (3) to 8(3) at week 12. No significant differences in group A and C. With comparison the scores of physical, psych and urogenital domain of MRS questionnaire in 1th ,6th and 12th, no significant difference within group A and C were seen, but statistically significant difference was within group B (p<0.001) and D (p<0.001) in all weeks. The effect size was 0.92. Conclusion: A 12 weeks extracts treatment, there were significant improvement in physical, psychological and urogenital domains in group B.

Medicinal Plants for the Treatment of Acne Vulgaris: A Review of Recent Evidences

Context:

Acne vulgaris affects about 85% of teenagers and may continue to adulthood. There are about two million visits to physicians per year for teenagers and the direct cost of acne treatment in the US exceeds $1 billion per year.

Evidence Acquisition:

A wide variety of treatment regimens exist for acne vulgaris including benzoil peroxide, retinoids, isotretinoids, keratolytic soaps, alpha hydroxy acids, azelaic acid, salicilic acid as well as hormonal, anti-androgen or antiseborrheic treatments. However, none of these methods is free of side effects and their exact role in therapy is not clear. In this paper apart from presenting the possible causes of acne vulgaris and its available drugs, recently published papers about medicinal plants used in the treatment of acne vulgaris were reviewed.

Results:

Consumption of alternative and complementary medicine, including medicinal plants, is increasing and is common amongst patients affected by acne and infectious skin diseases. Medicinal plants have a long history of use and have been shown to possess low side effects. These plants are a reliable source for preparation of new drugs.

Conclusions:

Many plants seem to have inhibitory effects on the growth of bacteria, fungi and viruses in vitro. However, there are a few clinical evidences about the effectiveness and safety of these plants in the treatment of acne and other skin infections.

Medicinal plants used in malaria treatment by Prometra herbalists in Uganda

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

The aim of the survey was to document medicinal plants used in malaria treatment by Prometra (Promocion de la medicina tradicional amazonica) Traditional Medical Practitioners (TMPs) of Uganda and for search of new antiplasmodial herbal medicines (HMs) for further phytochemical analysis.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In this study, semi structured guided open and close ended questionnaires were used. Focus group discussions were conducted and key informants were chosen within the TMPs who helped in further discussions of how the herbal remedies where collected, prepared and administered.

RESULTS

A sample size of 51 respondents was randomly selected among the TMPs with the help of their leader. 86 species distributed over 81 genera and 39 families were reportedly being used as herbal remedies in malaria treatment. The TMPs use symptoms like high temperature, shivering, among others in malaria diagnosis an indication that they understand malaria. They emphasized the use of leaves and bark in treatment because they can regenerate and therefore ensure sustainable use of plants rather than the use of roots which would be destructive. These TMPS treat and also advise their patients on preventive measures against malaria attacks like sleeping under mosquito nets, clearing bushes near homesteads, among others which is an indication that they help in the prevention and mitigation of malaria incidences and prevalence in the areas where they live. The Informant Consensus Factor (FIC) value of 0.8 demonstrated that the TMPs of Prometra-Uganda tend to agree with each other in terms of the plant species they use in malaria treatment an indication of quality control in as far as administration of the herbal remedies. Vernonia amygdalina Delile, Bidens pilosa L., Justicia betonica L. were highly cited as being used in malaria treatment with frequencies of mention of 38, 28 and 25, respectively.

CONCLUSION

TMPs of Prometra-Uganda understand and treat malaria using the available plant diversity from their huge forest and the herbal gardens within Buyija forest. The healers are very keen at plant conservation which is a good practice. Species like Justica betonica may be investigated further for antiplasmodial assays to justify its efficacy.

Effects of wheat germ extract on the severity and systemic symptoms of primary dysmenorrhea: a randomized controlled clinical trial

Background:

Primary dysmenorrhea is one of the most common disorders in women and the main cause of absenteeism from work and school.

Objectives:

Considering the anti-inflammatory properties of wheat germ, the present study examined the effects of wheat germ extract on the severity and systemic symptoms of primary dysmenorrhea.

Patients and Methods:

This triple-blinded clinical trial was performed on 80 employed women in hospitals affiliated with Hamadan University of Medical Sciences (Hamadan, IR Iran). Subjects were allocated to two groups of 45 patients. Three 400-mg capsules of wheat germ extract or placebo were used daily٫ between the 16th day of the menstrual cycle to the fifth day of the next menstrual cycle for two consecutive months. Pain intensity was measured by a visual analogue scale thrice a day and a four-point verbal rating scale was employed to assess systemic symptoms.

Results:

Pain severity decreased only in the wheat germ extract group (P < 0.001) and there was no statistically significant change in the placebo group. In the wheat germ extract group, the pain severity decreased from 4.701 at baseline to 1.120 at the second cycle. The reduction in total scores of systemic symptoms of dysmenorrhea was statistically significant only in the wheat germ extract group (P < 0.001) and there was not a statistically significant change in the placebo group. It revealed statistically significant differences in systemic symptoms associated with dysmenorrhea including fatigue, headache, and mood swings in experimental group.

Conclusions:

Wheat germ extract seems to be an effective treatment for dysmenorrhea and its systemic symptoms, probably because of its anti-inflammatory effects.