Revisiting liquorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra L.) as anti-inflammatory, antivirals and immunomodulators: Potential pharmacological applications with mechanistic insight.

Abstract

Background Glycyrrhiza glabra L. ( G. glabra ) commonly known as liquorice is one of the highly exploited and utilized medicinal plant of the world. Since ancient times liquorice is considered as an auspicious and valuable traditional medicine across the world for treatment of various ailments. Method Several electronic online scientific databases such as Science Direct, PubMed, Scopus, Scifinder, Google Scholar, online books and reports were assessed for collecting information. All the collected information was classified into different sections to meet the objective of the paper. Results The electronic database search yielded 3908 articles from different countries. Out of them one ninety-eight articles published between 1956 and 2021 were included, corresponding to all detailed review on G. glabra and research on anti-inflammatories, antivirals and immunomodulatory through pre-clinical and clinical models. From all selective area of studies on G. glabra and its bioactive components it was established (including molecular mechanisms) as a suitable remedy as per the current requirement of pandemic situation arise through respiratory tract infection. Conclusion Different relevant studies have been thoroughly reviewed to gain an insight on utility of liquorice and its bioactive constituents for several pharmacological emphasizing anti-inflammatories, antivirals and immunomodulatory effects with special emphasized for prevention and treatment of COVID-19 infection with possible mechanism of action at molecular level. Proposed directions for future research are also outlined to encourage researchers to find out various mechanistic targets and useful value added products of liquorice in future investigations.

PHYTOCHEMICAL AND PHARMACOLOGICAL REVIEW OF LICORICE (Glycyrrhiza sp.) - A TRADITIONAL LOCAL HERB FOR THE FUTURE OF MEDICINE

“…Licorice is a precious medicinal plant prepared from the rhizomes and roots of several species of Kingdom: Plantae, Division: Angiospermae, Class: Dicotyledoneae, Order: Rosales, Family: Fabaceae, Genus: Glycyrrhiza with Greek origin 'glykos' meaning sweet and 'rhiza' meaning root. The genus Glycyrrhiza contains about 30 species worldwide, most of which are found in Asia [5]. The parts of Licorice plant are shown in Figure 1.…”

Swarna Bhasma Induces Antigen-Presenting Abilities of Macrophages and Helps Antigen Experienced CD4+ T Cells to Acquire Th1 Phenotypes Against Leishmania donovani Antigens

“…However, the immunogenic potential of SB has not been evaluated for its capability to induce effector functions of phagocytic and CD4 + T cells against Leishmania antigens. In Ayurveda, more than thousands preparations are described as containing yashtimadhu (“YM,” licorice, Glycyrrhiza glabra ) as one of their constituents with diverse pharmacological applications ranging from antiviral, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidants [ 29 , 30 ]. Additionally, YM is also considered a potent immune modulator, which is suggested to be a result of a multitude of bioactive constituents such as glycyrrhizin, isoliquiritigenin, flavonoids, formononetin, glabridin, hemileiocarpin, hispaglabridin B, liquiritigenin, and glyciram, although its regulatory roles on immune cells, in leishmaniasis, have not been investigated on the scale of modern research parameters [ 30 – 32 ].…”

Nanoscale Technologies in the Fight against COVID-19: From Innovative Nanomaterials to Computer-Aided Discovery of Potential Antiviral Plant-Derived Drugs

“…The second part of the review aims to show how computer-aided technologies can allow us to identify, in a rapid and therefore constantly updated way, plant-derived molecules that are potentially able to efficiently interact with SARS-CoV-2 cell penetration pathways, taking the terpenoids class as an example. This class of plant compounds, known for their wide-spectrum antiviral properties, includes some molecules recently reported as potentially active against SARS-CoV-2 [ 46 , 47 ].…”