Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19), a devastating respiratory illness caused by SARS-associated coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), has already affected over 64 million people and caused 1.48 million deaths, just 12 months from the first diagnosis. COVID-19 patients develop serious complications, including severe pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and or multiorgan failure due to exaggerated host immune response following infection. Currently, drugs that were effective against SARS-CoV are being repurposed for SARS-CoV-2. During this public health emergency, food nutraceuticals could be promising prophylactic therapeutics for COVID-19. Curcumin, a bioactive compound in turmeric, exerts diverse pharmacological activities and is widely used in foods and traditional medicines. This review presents several lines of evidence, which suggest curcumin as a promising prophylactic, therapeutic candidate for COVID-19. First, curcumin exerts antiviral activity against many types of enveloped viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, by multiple mechanisms: direct interaction with viral membrane proteins; disruption of the viral envelope; inhibition of viral proteases; induce host antiviral responses. Second, curcumin protects from lethal pneumonia and ARDS via targeting NF-κB, inflammasome, IL-6 trans signal, and HMGB1 pathways. Third, curcumin is safe and well-tolerated in both healthy and diseased human subjects. In conclusion, accumulated evidence indicates that curcumin may be a potential prophylactic therapeutic for COVID-19 in the clinic and public health settings.

No abstract

No abstract

Thymus vulgaris Linn. is a medicinal and culinary herb from the Southern European region known for its antiinfective, cardioprotective, gastroprotective, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory activities since the Egyptian era. The reported pharmacological activities of T. vulgaris L. include antibacterial, antioxidant, antiinflammatory, antiviral, and anti-cancerous activities. In this review, a comprehensive approach is put forth to scrutinize and report the available data on phytochemistry, ethnopharmacology, pharmacology, and toxicology of the plant. The different extracts and essential oil obtained from the plant have been assessed and reported to treat ailments like microbial infections, inflammation, non-communicable diseases like cancer, and sexually transmitted diseases like HIV-1 and Herpes. The literature review has also indicated the use of volatile oils, phenolic acids, terpenoids, flavonoids, saponins, steroids, tannins, alkaloids, and polysaccharides in pharmacotherapy. Applications of these compounds including antidiabetic, anti-Alzheimer's, cardio, neuro and hepatoprotective, anti-osteoporosis, sedative, immunomodulatory, antioxidant, anti-tyrosinase, antispasmodic, antinociceptive, gastroprotective, anticonvulsant, antihypertensive, antidepressant, anti-amnesia, and anti-helminthic activities have been mentioned. Further, based on research gaps, recommendations have been provided to evaluate T. vulgaris L. systematically to develop plant-based drugs, nutraceuticals, and to evaluate their clinical efficiency and safety.

Type 2 diabetes (adult onset diabetes) is the most common type of diabetes, accounting for around 90% of all diabetes cases with insulin resistance and insulin secretion defect. The key goal of anti-diabetic therapy is to increase the development of insulin, immunity and/or decrease the amount of blood glucose. While many synthetic compounds have been produced as anti-diabetic agents, due to their side effects and limited effectiveness, their usefulness has been hindered. This systematic review investigated the bioactive compounds reported to possess activities against type 2 diabetes. Three (3) databases, PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar, were searched for research articles published between January 2010 and October 2020. A total of 6464 articles were identified, out of which 84 articles were identified to be eligible for the study. From the data extracted, it was found that quercetin, Kaempferol, Rosmarinic acid, Cyanidin, Rutin, Catechin, Luteolin, and Ellagic acid were the most cited bioactive compounds, which all falls within the class of polyphenolic compounds. The major sources of these bioactive compounds include citrus fruits, grapes, onions, berries, cherries, broccoli, honey, apples, green tea, Ginkgo biloba, St. John's wort, green beans, cucumber, spinach, tea, Rosmarinus officinalis, Aloe vera, Moringa oleifera, tomatoes, potatoes, oregano, lemon balm, thyme, peppermint, Ocimum basilicum, red cabbage, peas, olive oil, and walnut. In conclusion, the data collected in our study indicates that consumption of polyphenolic/flavonoids rich food and vegetables as a routine diet could considerably reduce the risk of T2DM and also benefits insulin sensitivity and other chronic inflammations.

The present study is mainly aimed at the synthesis of copper oxide nanoparticles of varied size by green synthetic approach. The structural and morphological behavior of as-synthesized CuO nanoparticles were investigated using ultraviolet-visible spectral studies (UV-Vis), Fourier transform-Infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The reduction of copper ions using aqueous extract of S. indica leaves produces nanoparticles of varied size and morphology. The images from SEM investigation revealed that the particles are spherical in shape with average diameter of 40–70 nm. TEM and HRTEM images clearly indicate the crystallinity and spherical nature of as-synthesized CuO nanoparticles with interplanar distance between two neighboring lattice fringes of 0.315 nm.

Genistein is an isoflavonoid present in high quantities in soybeans. Possessing a wide range of bioactives, it is being studied extensively for its tumoricidal effects. Investigations into mechanisms of the anti-cancer activity have revealed many pathways including induction of cell proliferation, suppression of tyrosine kinases, regulation of Hedgehog-Gli1 signaling, modulation of epigenetic activities, seizing of cell cycle and Akt and MEK signaling pathways, among others via which the cancer cell proliferation can be controlled. Notwithstanding, the observed activities have been time- and dose-dependent. In addition, genistein has also shown varying results in women depending on the physiological parameters, such as the early or post-menopausal states.

No abstract