Despite the frightening mortality rate associated with COVID-19, there is no known approved drug to effectively combat the pandemic. COVID-19 clinical manifestations include fever, fatigue, cough, shortness of breath, and other complications. At present, there is no known effective treatment or vaccine that can mitigate/inhibit SARS-CoV-2. Available clinical intervention for COVID-19 is only palliative and limited to support. Thus, there is an exigent need for effective and non-invasive treatment. This article evaluates the possible mechanism of actions of SARS-CoV-2 and present Nigeria based medicinal plants which have pharmacological and biological activities that can mitigate the hallmarks of the pathogenesis of COVID-19. SARS-CoV-2 mode of actions includes hyper-inflammation characterized by a severe and fatal hyper-cytokinaemia with multi-organ failure; immunosuppression; reduction of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) to enhance pulmonary vascular permeability causing damage to the alveoli; and further activated by open reading frame (ORF)3a, ORF3b, and ORF7a via c-Jun N- terminal kinase (JNK) pathway which induces lung damage. These mechanisms of action of SARS-CoV-2 can be mitigated by a combination therapy of medicinal herbs based on their pharmacological activities. Since the clinical manifestations of COVID-19 are multifactorial with co-morbidities, we strongly recommend the use of combined therapy such that two or more herbs with specific therapeutic actions are administered to combat the mediators of the disease.

The African continent is rich in both flora and fauna resources, which have been extensively used locally in the treatment or cure of a wide variety of ailments. Enquiries into traditional folklore revealed that Euphorbia hirta and Vernonia amygdalina possess antiplasmodial properties among others for the treatment of febrile conditions. We therefore investigated the phytochemistry, antimalarial potencies, hepatic toxicities and renal toxicities of the crude ethanol extract of the whole plant of Euphorbia hirta (CEEH) and leaves of Vernonia amygdalina (CEVA) using standard procedures. The obtained results showed that CEEH and CEVA contain flavonoids, alkaloids, tannins and saponins, but not phlobatannins. CEEH and CEVA mildly inhibited P. berghei schizont maturation (44.36% and 37.85%, respectively), while Artesunate Combination Therapy (ACT) was only slightly potent (>50%) against chloroquine-sensitive P. berghei. CEEH significantly decreased ALP, but significantly increased bilirubin. Both extracts significantly increased the albumin and total protein levels compared to infected, untreated animals. Compared to Camosunate ® , CEVA caused further significant increases in creatinine and urea. However, these increases did not indicate organ damage.

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