The plant was identified by local traditional practitioners and authenticated by expert taxonomist, on the basis of characters given in Flora of Orissa [9]. Stem bark of the plant was collected from its natural habitat in the month of November and shade dried. The shade dried bark was pulverized and sieved through 80 mesh and preserved in an airtight glass container for future physicochemical and phytochemical anlysis. Preservation of wet sample Fresh stem bark sample was preserved in a solution prepared from glacial acetic acid, alcohol, formalin and distilled water following standard procedures [10]. Microscopic evaluation Thin sections of the stem bark portion were taken by maceration method [11]. They were treated with respective reagents for detection of chemicals [12]. Photographs Photomicrographs were taken by using Canon digital camera attached to Zeiss microscope.

Plants of ethnomedicinal importance have contributed for the development of many new pharmacologically effective molecules/chemical entities to modern medicine. India, the country having one of the richest biodiversity of its flora in its forest, with numerous tribal inhabitants, is able to contribute a lot from ethnomedicine to the ailing humanity. Cordia macleodii Hook. (Boraginaceae), an ethnomedicinal plant has been highlighted for its wound healing, aphrodisiac and hepatoprotective activities. It is a medium-sized tree, known as Panki/Shikari by the tribals, rarely found in the forests of Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. So far, the plant has been studied neither for its pharmacognostical characters nor for its pharmacological actions except its hepatoprotective activity. Hence, it has been selected for a detailed investigation which includes pharmacognostic study of its leaf to find out the diagnostic characters and preliminary physicochemical analysis. Results of the study will help in identifying the plant pharmacognostically. Presence of alkaloids, glycosides and tannins were found during the study.

ObjectiveThe world continues to face the COVID-19 crisis, and efforts are underway to integrate traditional medicine interventions for its effective management. The study aimed to determine the efficacy of the “AYURAKSHA” kit in terms of post-interventional percentage of COVID-19 IgG positivity, immunity levels, and quality of life (QoL) against COVID-19.MethodThis was a non-randomized controlled, prospective intervention trial, done after the distribution of 80,000 AYURAKSHA kits (constituent of Sanshamani Vati, AYUSH Kadha, and Anu Taila) among Delhi police participants in India. Among 47,827 participants, the trial group (n = 101) was evaluated with the positivity percentage of IgG COVID-19 and Immune Status Questionnaire (ISQ) scores as a primary outcome and the WHO Quality of Life Brief Version (QOL BREF) scores along with hematological parameters as a secondary outcome in comparison to the control group (n = 71).ResultsThe data showed that the percentage of COVID-19 IgG positivity was significantly lower in the trial group (17.5 %) as compared to the control group (39.4 %, p = 0.003), indicating the lower risk (55.6%) of COVID-19 infection in the trial group. The decreased incidence (5.05%) and reduced mortality percentage (0.44%) of COVID-19 among Delhi police officers during peak times of the pandemic also corroborate our findings. The ISQ score and WHO-QOL BREF tool analysis showed the improved scores in the trial group when compared with the controls. Furthermore, no dysregulated blood profile and no increase in inflammation markers like C-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, Interleukin-6 (IL-6) were observed in the trial group. However, significantly enhanced (p = 0.027) IL-6 levels and random blood sugar levels were found in the control group (p = 0.032), compared to a trial group (p = 0.165) post-intervention. Importantly, the control group showed more significant (p = 0.0001) decline in lymphocyte subsets CD3+ (% change = 21.04), CD4+ (% change = 20.34) and CD8+ (% change = 21.54) levels than in trial group, confirming more severity of COVID-19 infection in the control group.ConclusionThe AYURAKSHA kit is associated with reduced COVID-19 positivity and with a better quality of life among the trial group. Hence, the study encourages in-depth research and future integration of traditional medicines for the prevention of the COVID-19 pandemic.Clinical trial registrationhttp://ctri.nic.in/, identifier: CTRI/2020/05/025171.

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Plants are traditionally being used as a source of medicine by indigenous people of different ethnic groups inhabiting various terrains for the control of various ailments effecting both human and animals. Recently, focus on plant research has been increased, all over the world, due to the huge potential of medicinal plants used in various traditional systems. Wounds are the result of injuries to the skin that disrupt the soft tissue. Various plants have been used in treatment of wounds over the years in many tribal areas. Many ethno botanical survey reports and books have been published highlighting the use of plant as a whole or its various parts for the management of wounds. Recent research shows that some of these plants are established either experimental or clinical studies for their wound healing activities. Single hand information regarding these plants with their specific parts used for wound healing activity is lacking. Hence, the present study is an attempt to compile the leaf drugs reported for their wound healing activity from 85 research articles and 14 books related to ethno medicine and ethno botany. It is observed that ethno medicinal plants belonging to 100 families (Asteraceae-51, Fabaceae-38, Euphorbiaceae-34, Lamiaceae-19, Rubiaceae-17 etc.) are reported for their wound healing activity. Among them 202 plants reported for topical application, 11 for oral administration and 9 for both (oral and topical).