No abstract

No abstract

Natural products continue to impress drug discovery scientists by their amazing bioactivity profiles coupled with their highly complex molecular architecture. These compounds have been the principal source of anticancer chemotherapeutic agents over the last few decades. About 60-70% of the anticancer drugs which are clinically used have been either pure natural products, their synthetic or semi-synthetic derivatives. Among natural products, plant-derived compounds play a pivotal role in anticancer drug discovery programme. These plant-derived compounds include vincristine, vinblastine, camptothecin and its derivatives, etoposide, topotecan, irinotecan, paclitaxel etc. Various novel and promising anticancer drugs are currently under various phases of clinical trials. Natural products have seen many ups and downs viz-a-viz their role in cancer chemotherapy. During 90' s these compounds saw a dip in the top-notch pharmaceutical companies mainly because of the high throughput screening programmes which involve targeted therapies using small molecules. However, barring few cancers, these therapies were confronted with the ineffectiveness with respect to several solid tumors. This has hugely revitalized their importance in anticancer drug discovery. The current review focuses on the plant-based natural compounds and herbal extracts which specifically induce anticancer effects via the induction of apoptosis. This review also discusses their mode of action along with their botanical origin.

Abstract:: Coumarins- a natural class of compounds, firstly isolated from Tonka beans and are found in various medicinal herbs. This class of compounds has been reported of remarkable biological and pharmacological applications including antimicrobial, anticoagulants, anti-inflammatory as well as cancer. Additionally, coumarins have revealed significant inhibition of different human cancers viz bladder cancer, lung cancer, prostate cancer, ovarian cancer, colon cancer, breast cancer, gastric cancer, leukemia, pancreatic cancer and still counting. Therefore, the compilation of medicinal research progress of natural coumarin and its derivatives will be beneficial for scientists and researchers worldwide. The literature review of medicinal research progress of natural coumarin and its derivatives was collected from various databases including PubMed, Web of Science and Science Direct from the year 1942 to date.The presented data on medicinal research progress of natural coumarin and its derivatives provides a detailed review which could serve as a platform for future research.The data presented the medicinal and biological activities of coumarin and its derivatives like antimicrobial, anticoagulant, anti-inflammatory and anticancer in particular. This could be utilized for future formulation and development of drugs and references based on coumarin and its derivatives.

The recent outbreak of viral infection and its transmission has highlighted the importance of its slowdown for the safeguard of public health, globally. The identification of novel drugs and efficient therapies against these infectious viruses is need of the hour. The eruption of COVID-19 is caused by a novel acute respiratory syndrome virus SARS-CoV-2 which has taken the whole world by storm as it has transformed into a global pandemic. This lethal syndrome is a global health threat to general public which has already affected millions of people. Despite the development of some potential vaccines and repurposed drugs by some Pharma companies, this health emergency needs more attention due to the less efficacy of these vaccines coupled with the emergence of novel and resistant strains of SARS-CoV-2. Due to enormous structural diversity and biological applications, natural products are considered as a wonderful source of drugs for such diseases. Natural product based drugs constitute a substantial proportion of the pharmaceutical market particularly in the therapeutic areas of infectious diseases and oncology. The naturally occurring bioactive antiviral phytochemicals including alkaloids, flavonoids and peptides have been subjected to virtual screening against COVID-19. Since there is no specific medicine available for the treatment of Covid-19, designing new drugs using in silico methods plays an all important role to find that magic bullet which can target this lethal virus. The in silico method is not only quick but economical also when compared to the other conventional methods which are hit and trial methods. Based on this in silico approach, various natural products have been recently identified which might have a potential to inhibit COVID-19 outbreak. These natural products have been shown by these docking studies to interact with the spike protein of the novel coronavirus. This spike protein has been shown to bind to a transmembrane protein called Angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), this protein acts as a receptor for the viral spike protein. This comprehensive review article anticipates providing a summary of the authentic and peer reviewed published literature about the potential of natural metabolites that can be developed into possible lead compounds against this new threat of Covid-19. Main focus of the article will be to highlight natural sources of potential anti-coronavirus molecules, mechanism of action, docking studies and the target proteins as well as their toxicity profiles. This review article intends to provide a starting point for the research endeavors that are needed for the design and development of drugs based on pure natural products, their synthetic or semi-synthetic derivatives and standardized plant extracts. This review article will be highly helpful for scientists who are working or intend to work on antiviral drugs from natural sources.

Euphorbia hirta is a common medicinal plant in folk and traditional medicine systems. This plant has shown promising effects against several human ailments and infectious diseases. Therefore, it is important to summarize the medicinal activities and value of Euphorbia hirta. The main intent of this literature review was to summarize the phytochemical content and pharmacological applications of Euphorbia hirta. The literature review about the pharmacology and phytochemistry of Euphorbia hirta was collected from different global platforms, such as Scopus, ERIC, PubMed, and Web of Science. E. hirta has a rich phytochemistry and exhibits remarkable activity against respiratory diseases, gastrointestinal disorders and venereal diseases. Different extracts of this plant have shown significant preclinical anticancer propensity against an array of different cancer cell lines. It acts as a highly active antiviral agent and has shown pronounced activity against coxsackievirus, human immunodeficiency virus, dengue virus, poliovirus and simian immunodeficiency virus. A clinical study showed its inhibitory responses against flu and fever in dengue patients. Most importantly, the plant possesses remarkable inhibitory action on ACE, which aids SARS-CoV-2 entry into host cells. The multidimensional role of Euphorbia hirta as a potential antiviral agent suggests its possible application to control COVID-19 along with modern and Western medicinal strategies. In conclusion, the literature review regarding Euphorbia hirta showed its strong pharmacological applications, such as antimicrobial, antimalarial, anti-asthmatic, antioxidant, antiviral and anticancer activities. Further in-depth research is necessary to monitor its role in the management of viral diseases, especially COVID-19.

El costo cada vez mayor de los fertilizantes químicos se está convirtiendo en un cuello de botella importante para el cultivo de tierras agrícolas pequeñas y grandes, de las cuales el estiércol líquido (LM) ofrece una ventaja comparativa. LM es el producto final de la digestión anaeróbica (AD) de varias materias orgánicas y/o su compost mezclado manual o mecánicamente en zanjas excavadas o biorreactores que utilizan agua. En general, los microorganismos presentes ayudan significativamente a descomponer la materia orgánica del suelo en nutrientes útiles para la supervivencia y el crecimiento de la planta, ya que la humedad es esencial para la proliferación bacteriana. En este trabajo, se examina la interacción entre el sustrato y el microbio (N) y el microbio y el gas que se produce (K) en el sistema AD mesófilo utilizando un modelo existente. Los resultados muestran que N y K oscilan entre 0,00046 y 0,0016 y 0,1643 y 0,1987, respectivamente, entre 25 y 45 ℃ para LM digerido durante 120 días. Los parámetros estadísticos, R2 y R2 ajustado muestran que el rendimiento empírico de biogás a diferentes opciones de temperatura mesófila se ajusta adecuadamente a los valores correlacionados para las estimaciones de los factores de interacción obtenidos. Este estudio, por implicación, buscó mejorar los estudios y la exploración de LM para uso agrícola y producción de biogás como un reemplazo potencial del costoso fertilizante químico.

No abstract