The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the etiological agent for the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). The COVID-19 pandemic has created unimaginable and unprecedented global health crisis. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, millions of dollars have been spent, hospitalization overstretched with increasing morbidity and mortality. All these have resulted in unprecedented global economic catastrophe. Several drugs and vaccines are currently being evaluated, tested, and administered in the frantic efforts to stem the dire consequences of COVID-19 with varying degrees of successes. Zinc possesses potential health benefits against COVID-19 pandemic by improving immune response, minimizing infection and inflammation, preventing lung injury, inhibiting viral replication through the interference of the viral genome transcription, protein translation, attachment, and host infectivity. However, this review focuses on the various mechanisms of action of How to cite this article: Oyagbemi AA, Ajibade TO, Aboua YG, et al. Potential health benefits of zinc supplementation for the management of COVID-19 pandemic.
Sodium fluoride (NaF) is one of the neglected environmental pollutants. It is ubiquitously found in the soil, water, and environment. Interestingly, fluoride has been extensively utilized for prevention of dental caries and tartar formation, and may be added to mouthwash, mouth rinse, and toothpastes. This study is aimed at mitigating fluoride-induced hypertension and nephrotoxicity with clofibrate, a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha (PPARα) agonist. For this study, forty male Wistar rats were used and randomly grouped into ten rats per group, control, sodium fluoride (NaF; 300 ppm) only, NaF plus clofibrate (250 mg/kg) and NaF plus lisinopril (10 mg/kg), respectively, for 7 days. The administration of NaF was by drinking water ad libitum, while clofibrate and lisinopril were administered by oral gavage. Administration of NaF induced hypertension, and was accompanied with exaggerated oxidative stress; depletion of antioxidant defence system; reduced nitric oxide production; increased systolic, diastolic and mean arterial pressure; activation of angiotensin-converting enzyme activity and nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB); and testicular apoptosis. Treatment of rats with clofibrate reduced oxidative stress, improved antioxidant status, lowered high blood pressure through the inhibition of angiotensinconverting enzyme activity, mineralocorticoid receptor over-activation, and abrogated testicular apoptosis. Taken together, clofibrate could offer exceptional therapeutic benefit in mitigating toxicity associated with sodium fluoride.
Natural products have played and continue to play a great role in the management of different diseases. Natural products are usually believed to be safer, cheaper, easily available and sometimes more efficacious than purely synthetic drugs. Diabetes mellitus is a major health problem in the world. There is no cure for diabetes. With the increase in a number of newer drugs for diabetes, there is the possibility of a wide range of side effects that vary from one drug to another. It is, therefore, essential to practice effective methods of the treatment and management of diabetes. Hence, the need to explore antidiabetic drugs of natural origin with minimal side effects is highly essential. This review provides a scientific perspective on the usage and research of natural traditional remedies in the management of diabetes. The aim of the present review is to provide a comprehensive and concise overview of the previously reported clinical trials of antioxidative natural products in the management of diabetes.
Keywords: Diabetes, Natural products, Hyperglycemia, Diabetic complications,
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