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Medicinal Plants of the Trans-Himalayas
Published in Raymond Cooper, Jeffrey John Deakin, Natural Products of Silk Road Plants, 2020
Ajay Sharma, Garima Bhardwaj, Pushpender Bhardwaj, Damanjit Singh Cannoo
Cold desert conditions, prolonged frozen winters, and remoteness drove exploration of the value of edible wild plants (e.g., Lepidium sp., Rhodiola sp., Urtica sp., Taraxacum sp.), fodder plants (e.g., H. rhamnoides, P. pabularia, Cicer microphyllum, Aconogonum tortuosum). The plants with aesthetic value include Rosa sp., Primula sp., Meconopsis sp., Epilobium sp., and A. fragrans. Examples of plants for fuel are H. rhamnoides, Caragana sp., Berberis sp., Artemisia sp., and Acantholimon lycopodioides. Medicinal plants include Aconitum sp., Anaphalis sp., Arnebia sp., Artemisia sp., Berberis sp., Codonopsis sp., Colchicum sp., Corydalis sp., Ephedra sp., Gentiana sp., Hippophae sp., Inula sp., Nepeta sp., Podophyllum sp., Ranunculus sp., Rheum sp., Rhodiola sp., and Saussurea sp. (Chaurasia et al., 2007; Ballabh et al., 2007; Ballabh and Chaurasia, 2007; Dorjey, 2015; Dorjey et al., 2012).
Natural Products as Economical Agents for Antioxidant Activity
Published in Hafiz Ansar Rasul Suleria, Megh R. Goyal, Masood Sadiq Butt, Phytochemicals from Medicinal Plants, 2019
Nida Nazar, Abdullah Ijaz Hussain, Syed Makhdoom Hussain, Poonam Singh Nigam
Moreover, the plant genus Nepeta consists of about 250 species, present widely in North America, Europe, and Asia. About 67 species of Nepata are native to Iran and 39 out of them are only limited to Iran. Studies demonstrate that the chemical composition of essential oil of N. persica78,84,137 has the potential against varying diseases. The free radical scavenging, antioxidant, antibacterial, antifungal activities of Nepeta persica and the results showed that the essential oil of N. persica was effective.97
Herbs with Antidepressant Effects
Published in Scott Mendelson, Herbal Treatment of Major Depression, 2019
In a study of treatment of insomnia with the combination of the herbs, Melissa officinalis and Nepeta menthoides, there was significant improvement of scores on the Beck Depression index.16 This was despite the fact that none of the subjects were formally diagnosed as suffering MDD. Thus, while animal studies suggest antidepressant effects of Melissa officinalis, and potential pharmacological mechanisms for such have been described, there is as yet no compelling evidence that Melissa officinalis alone has efficacy in the treatment of MDD in human subjects.
Research progress on antiviral constituents in traditional Chinese medicines and their mechanisms of action
Published in Pharmaceutical Biology, 2022
Volatile oils, with monoterpenoids and sesquiterpenoids as the major components, refer to a class of aromatic oily liquids, which are volatile at room temperature and can be distilled with water vapour (Edris 2007). Volatile oils possess a broad spectrum of physiological activities, which are the main active constituents of many common antiviral traditional Chinese medicines such as Nepeta cataria Linn. (Labiatae) whole herb (Jingjie), Houttuynia cordata Thunb. (Saururaceae) overgroud part (Yuxingcao) and Lianqiao (Yuan et al. 2017; Lee, Wang et al. 2018; Řebíčková et al. 2020). A large number of studies have shown that volatile oils have antioxidant, antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral effects (Zhang, Huo, et al. 2020; Darwish et al. 2020; El-Alam et al. 2020). Because of the lipophile nature of the volatile oils, they are advocated to penetrate the viral membrane easily leading to membrane rupture. Volatiles oils contain a variety of active chemical components that synergize multiple stages of viral replication and have positive effects on the host respiratory system, including bronchiectasis and mucolysis (Youssef et al. 2020).
Neochlorogenic acid: an anti-HIV active compound identified by screening of Cortex Mori [Morus Alba L. (Moraceae)]
Published in Pharmaceutical Biology, 2021
Jing Li, Lu Dou, Shuangfeng Chen, Honghao Zhou, Fangzheng Mou
Chinese herbal medicine is a vital part of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and has been used as a treatment technique since its inception in ancient China. Recently, many types of Chinese herbal medicines with different degrees of antiviral activity have been reported (Wan et al. 2020; Yu et al. 2020), including Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fischer (Leguminosae) (rhizome) (Wan et al. 2020), Reynoutria japonica Houtt (Polygonaceae) (root) (Johnston 1990), Nepeta cataria Linn (Labiatae) (stem and leaf) (Johnston 1990), Lithospermum erythrorhizon Sieb. et Zucc (Boraginaceae) (root) (Chen et al. 1997), Sophora flavescens Alt (Leguminosae) (root) (Chen et al. 1997), Cinnamomum cassia Presl (Lauraceae) (bark) (Dai et al. 2012), Euchresta japonica Hook. f. ex Regel (Leguminosae) (root) (Sun et al. 2015), and Cortex Mori [Morus alba L. (Moraceae)] (bark) (Lee et al. 2007). In this study, eight types of Chinese medicines were selected for study, and their anti-HIV activities were preliminarily evaluated. Chinese medicines with definite HIV inhibitory effects were screened from the eight types of Chinese medicines, and their natural compounds were used for HIV inhibition experiments. Furthermore, their functions and mechanisms were explored to determine the active monomeric compounds in the Chinese medicines that showed targeted inhibition of HIV-1 RT. The study results should provide a theoretical and experimental basis for the drug design, structural modification, and development of a new generation of HIV-RT inhibitors.
Nanocarriers: more than tour de force for thymoquinone
Published in Expert Opinion on Drug Delivery, 2020
Charul Rathore, Michael J Rathbone, Dinesh K Chellappan, Murtaza M Tambuwala, Terezinha De Jesus A Pinto, Harish Dureja, Chetna Hemrajani, Gaurav Gupta, Kamal Dua, Poonam Negi
Medicinal plants and their phytoconstituents hold a great therapeutic promise for various ailments, and thus in the recent times, a noteworthy upsurge in the scientific research has been noticed in the area of herbal medicines [1]. Nigella sativa (NS) (also known as black cumin seed; family Ranunculaceae) is one of the most promising medicinal plants, generally grown in the Mediterranean region and western Asia (India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan). The biological activity of NS is attributed to its potential chemical constituent, i.e.,, thymoquinone (TQ) (Figure 1). TQ (2-isopropyl-5-methylbenzo-1, 4-quinone) imparts 30–48% of whole constituents of NS seed oil [2]. It was first isolated by El-Dakhakhny in 1963 from NS black seeds using thin-layer chromatography [3]. However, it is also found in other plants like Eupatorium ayapana, the leaves of several Origanum species, the heartwood essential oils of Calocedrus decurrens, oil of different Satureja species, aerial flowering parts of Thymus vulgaris L. and Nepeta distans [4]. TQ belongs to the monoterpenoid class of benzoquinone having the molecular formula C10H12O2, and corresponding to a molecular weight of 164.20 g/mol. It contains a basic quinone ring conjugated to a methyl, and an isopropyl side chain in positions 2 and 5, respectively, [5].