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Infectious Disorders Drug Targets 2021Human skin is considered as the first line of defense and barrier against the majority of infections caused through the skin that affect humans. Healthy skin promotes a... (Review)
Review
Human skin is considered as the first line of defense and barrier against the majority of infections caused through the skin that affect humans. Healthy skin promotes a healthy body that can be achieved with the usage of modern, allopathic and natural remedies. Major skin ailments affecting humans are skin cancers, eczema, herpes infection, fungal infection, anti-aging, itching, insect bites, pemphigus vulgaris, trauma, psoriasis, athlete's foot infections, rashes, skin pigmentation, acne, major and minor wound infections that are slowly becoming a burden on health care. Skin infections can be treated from sources that originate from animals and plants. In spite of advancements in science and technology, the emergence of natural herbal remedies for managing skin disorders has become a pivotal and essential contributor in treating skin infections due to increased demand for herbals and their lower price, and continuous adverse effects of modern medicines. In the recent era, herbal extracts and their phytomedicines have made a vital contribution to human health care. Herbal products nowadays are considered as a single line of treatment for many diseases like Cancers, Diabetes, Cardiovascular and Brain disorders, thereby creating awareness regarding purity, efficacy and safety of herbal medicines for health care management. Many therapeutically active natural herbal resources like Aloe, Neem, Liquorice, Tulsi, Amla, Papaya, Ginger and Eucalyptus are potent and safe in the treatment of dermatological infections. This review article summarizes the significance of herbal plants for protecting, treating and minimizing skin infections through the utility of herbal pharmaceuticals like creams, decocted extracts, poultice, paste and lotions that aid in the treatment of skin infections and diseases at a relatively lower cost with lesser side effects as compared to modern and allopathic medicines.
Topics: Animals; Delivery of Health Care; Humans; Phytotherapy; Plant Extracts; Plants, Medicinal; Skin Diseases
PubMed: 32568024
DOI: 10.2174/1871526520666200622142710 -
F1000Research 2020Enveloped viruses such as SAR-CoV-2 are sensitive to heat and are destroyed by temperatures tolerable to humans. All mammals use fever to deal with infections and heat... (Review)
Review
Enveloped viruses such as SAR-CoV-2 are sensitive to heat and are destroyed by temperatures tolerable to humans. All mammals use fever to deal with infections and heat has been used throughout human history in the form of hot springs, saunas, hammams, steam-rooms, sweat-lodges, steam inhalations, hot mud and poultices to prevent and treat respiratory infections and enhance health and wellbeing. This paper reviews the evidence for using heat to treat and prevent viral infections and discusses potential cellular, physiological and psychological mechanisms of action. In the initial phase of infection, heat applied to the upper airways can support the immune system's first line of defence by supporting muco-ciliary clearance and inhibiting or deactivating virions where they first lodge. This may be further enhanced by the inhalation of steam containing essential oils with anti-viral, mucolytic and anxiolytic properties. Heat applied to the whole body can further support the immune system's second line of defence by mimicking fever and activating innate and acquired immune defences and building physiological resilience. Heat-based treatments also offer psychological benefits and enhanced mental wellness by focusing attention on positive action, enhancing relaxation and sleep, inducing 'forced-mindfulness', and invoking the power of positive thinking and 'remembered wellness'. Heat is a cheap, convenient and widely accessible therapeutic modality and while no clinical protocols exist for using heat to treat COVID-19, protocols that draw from traditional practices and consider contraindications, adverse effects and infection control measures could be developed and implemented rapidly and inexpensively on a wide scale. While there are significant challenges in implementing heat-based therapies during the current pandemic, these therapies present an opportunity to integrate natural medicine, conventional medicine and traditional wellness practices, and support the wellbeing of both patients and medical staff, while building community resilience and reducing the likelihood and impact of future pandemics.
Topics: Humans; Betacoronavirus; Coronavirus Infections; COVID-19; Hot Temperature; Hyperthermia, Induced; Oils, Volatile; Pandemics; Pneumonia, Viral; SARS-CoV-2; Steam
PubMed: 32742639
DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.23299.2 -
BioMed Research International 2021Wallflower () is employed as a popular herbal drug in traditional Persian medicine. Topical formulations including cerates, lotions, sitz baths, and poultices for...
Wallflower () is employed as a popular herbal drug in traditional Persian medicine. Topical formulations including cerates, lotions, sitz baths, and poultices for inflammatory disorders such as arthritis, anal fissure, endometriosis, and mastitis are known. However, there is no monograph in current pharmacopoeia for the wallflower drug. The present study is aimed to screen anti-inflammatory activity of wallflower and perform quality control and characterization tests for different organs of the herb. In this regard, albumin denaturation activity, macroscopic and microscopic, phytochemical, HPTLC, and FT-IR characteristics were investigated. Wallflower showed strong anti-inflammatory activity compared to diclofenac sodium. The root (1.25, 2.5, and 5 mg/mL) and flower (10 mg/mL) extract exhibited higher anti-inflammatory activities than that of other plant organs at the same concentrations. Moreover, total ash was found higher in aerial parts (21.52 ± 0.06%) than flower (11.01 ± 0.03%), root (5.03 ± 0.03%), and seed (6.95 ± 0.06%), while water-soluble ash was higher in seed (34.89 ± 0.26%) than flower (5.00 ± 0.03%), aerial parts (7.16 ± 0.06%), and root (5.04 ± 0.01%). Acid-insoluble ash and sulphated ash were higher in root (9.50 ± 0.04%) and aerial part (28.37 ± 0.57%), respectively. In addition, loss on drying was ranged from 2.20 ± 0.20% in flowers to 6.00 ± 0.10% in aerial parts. On the other hand, HPTLC analysis verified cardenolide compounds in all organs of the herb, and quercetin was detected in the flavonoid fingerprint of acid hydrolysed flowers. According to FT-IR results, the observed spectral region at ~3500 cm attributed to -OH stretching vibration. Also, C-H (~2900-2950 cm), isothiocyanate (~2340 cm), -C=O (~1740 cm), conjugated C=C of the aromatic ring (~1650 cm), and structure of the aromatic group (~1200-1000 cm) were monitored. This work is the first study to the best of our knowledge, suggesting wallflower as a potential drug candidate with the basis for a monograph in addition to initial anti-inflammatory data.
Topics: Anti-Inflammatory Agents; Erysimum; Flavonoids; Flowers; Phytochemicals; Plant Extracts; Quality Control; Quercetin; Seeds; Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared
PubMed: 34212031
DOI: 10.1155/2021/5526644 -
Journal of Cutaneous and Aesthetic... 2024Finding new compounds to accelerate wound healing is critical today. Humic substances or fulvic acid each have anti-inflammatory properties.
BACKGROUND
Finding new compounds to accelerate wound healing is critical today. Humic substances or fulvic acid each have anti-inflammatory properties.
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of poultice 0.5% containing humic and fulvic acids on wound healing in male rats.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
An animal model was arranged by making a full-thickness skin wound was created in each rat. Animals were randomly divided into control, sham, and treatment groups. To investigate the effect of humic and fulvic acids combining poultice, the wound area and histological analyses of the number of inflammatory cells, fibroblasts, and angiogenesis were evaluated for 21 days.
RESULTS
The animals in the treated group showed higher wound healing percentage, angiogenesis, and fibroblast distribution compared with the control ( < 0.001). Moreover, the topical administration of humic and fulvic acids 0.5% poultice decreased the mean number of inflammatory cells significantly than the other groups ( < 0.001).
CONCLUSION
The topical administration of a poultice containing humic and fulvic acid accelerated wound healing by increasing angiogenesis and fibroblast and reducing inflammatory cell distribution in a rat model.
PubMed: 38800815
DOI: 10.4103/JCAS.JCAS_92_23