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Cell Cycle (Georgetown, Tex.) May 2020The recent announcement of marijuana legalization in Canada spiked many discussions about potential health benefits of . Cannabinoids are active chemical compounds... (Review)
Review
The recent announcement of marijuana legalization in Canada spiked many discussions about potential health benefits of . Cannabinoids are active chemical compounds produced by cannabis, and their numerous effects on the human body are primarily exerted through interactions with cannabinoid receptor types 1 (CB) and 2 (CB). Cannabinoids are broadly classified as endo-, phyto-, and synthetic cannabinoids. In this review, we will describe the activity of cannabinoids on the cellular level, comprehensively summarize the activity of all groups of cannabinoids on various cancers and propose several potential mechanisms of action of cannabinoids on cancer cells.
Topics: Animals; Antineoplastic Agents; Cannabinoids; Cannabis; Humans; Neoplasms; Phytotherapy; Receptor, Cannabinoid, CB1; Receptor, Cannabinoid, CB2
PubMed: 32249682
DOI: 10.1080/15384101.2020.1742952 -
Frontiers in Endocrinology 2020Cancer is one of the leading diseases, which, in the most cases, ends with death and, thus, continues to be a major concern in human beings worldwide. The conventional... (Review)
Review
Cancer is one of the leading diseases, which, in the most cases, ends with death and, thus, continues to be a major concern in human beings worldwide. The conventional anticancer agents used in the clinic often face resistance among many cancer diseases. Moreover, heavy financial costs preclude patients from continuing treatment. Bioactive peptides, active in several diverse areas against man's health problems, such as infection, pain, hypertension, and so on, show the potential to be effective in cancer treatment and may offer promise as better candidates for combating cancer. Cyclopeptides, of natural or synthetic origin, have several advantages over other drug molecules with low toxicity and low immunogenicity, and they are easily amenable to several changes in their sequences. Given their many demanded homologues, they have created new hope of discovering better compounds with desired properties in the field of challenging cancer diseases. Caryophyllaceae-type cyclopeptides show several biological activities, including cancer cytotoxicity. These cyclopeptides have been discovered in several plant families but mainly are from the Caryophyllaceae family. In this review, a summary of biological activities found for these cyclopeptides is given; the focus is on the anticancer findings of these peptides. Among these cyclopeptides, information about Dianthins (including Longicalycinin A), isolated from different species of Caryophyllaceae, as well as their synthetic analogues is detailed. Finally, by comparing their structures and cytotoxic activities, finding the common figures of these kinds of cyclopeptides as well as their possible future place in the clinic for cancer treatment is put forward.
Topics: Animals; Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic; Caryophyllaceae; Humans; Neoplasms; Peptides, Cyclic; Phytotherapy
PubMed: 33519710
DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2020.600856 -
Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Aug 2023is a plant genus within the Rutaceae family comprising over 17 species, which are widely distributed in Asia, Australia, and the Pacific Islands. Furthermore, these... (Review)
Review
is a plant genus within the Rutaceae family comprising over 17 species, which are widely distributed in Asia, Australia, and the Pacific Islands. Furthermore, these species have been used in traditional medicine to treat fever, pain, and dysentery. Several reports have also extensively studied the leaves, seeds, stembark, and bark of from 1965 to 2023 to explore their natural product composition. Various phytochemical studies have revealed the isolation of 413 compounds recorded, comprising coumarins, terpenoids, flavonoids, and aromatics, as well as alkaloids, which constitute the largest proportion (46.9%). These isolated compounds have long been known to exhibit different bioactivities, such as cytotoxic and anti-inflammatory properties. Cytotoxic activity has been observed against HCT 116, HeLa, HepG2, and other cell lines. Previous studies have also reported the presence of antifungal, hepatoprotective, antihyperlipidemic, antidiarrheal, and antioxidant effects. Therefore, this review provides a comprehensive overview of species, highlighting their phytochemistry, biological activities, and potential as a source of active natural compounds.
Topics: Murraya; Medicine, Traditional; Plant Extracts; Alkaloids; Rutaceae; Phytochemicals; Ethnopharmacology; Phytotherapy
PubMed: 37570872
DOI: 10.3390/molecules28155901 -
Marine Drugs Jul 2021Carrageenan and carrageenan oligosaccharides are red seaweed sulfated carbohydrates with well-known antiviral properties, mainly through the blocking of the viral... (Review)
Review
Carrageenan and carrageenan oligosaccharides are red seaweed sulfated carbohydrates with well-known antiviral properties, mainly through the blocking of the viral attachment stage. They also exhibit other interesting biological properties and can be used to prepare different drug delivery systems for controlled administration. The most active forms are λ-, ι-, and κ-carrageenans, the degree and sulfation position being determined in their properties. They can be obtained from sustainable worldwide available resources and the influence of manufacturing on composition, structure, and antiviral properties should be considered. This review presents a survey of the antiviral properties of carrageenan in relation to the processing conditions, particularly those assisted by intensification technologies during the extraction stage, and discusses the possibility of further chemical modifications.
Topics: Antiviral Agents; Aquatic Organisms; Carrageenan; Humans; Phytotherapy; Seaweed
PubMed: 34436276
DOI: 10.3390/md19080437 -
Journal of Medicine and Life 2021The wide access to varied, attractive, and aggressively promoted information can induce pregnant women to think that any form of complementary therapy can be a saving... (Review)
Review
The wide access to varied, attractive, and aggressively promoted information can induce pregnant women to think that any form of complementary therapy can be a saving solution for a medical problem because these therapies are natural, therefore, harmless. Updated information from literature about indications, benefits, limits, and risks of phytotherapy in pregnancy was presented. Valuable therapeutic resources with proven clinical efficacy (evidence-based medicine) were presented for each trimester of pregnancy, during labor, postpartum, but also during breastfeeding. For some phytotherapeutics, there are scientific studies. There is also a detailed presentation about some possibilities for therapeutic errors, which should be avoided during pregnancy. Positive results of phytotherapy deserve to be known and applied by the obstetrician for the certain benefit of future mothers.
Topics: Breast Feeding; Female; Humans; Mothers; Obstetrics; Phytotherapy; Pregnancy; Pregnant Women
PubMed: 35126743
DOI: 10.25122/jml-2021-0353 -
Journal of Evidence-based Integrative... 2022The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic started in early 2020 with the outbreak of a highly pathogenic human coronavirus. The world is facing a challenge and...
The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic started in early 2020 with the outbreak of a highly pathogenic human coronavirus. The world is facing a challenge and there is a pressing need for efficient drugs. Plants and natural compounds are a proven rich resource for new drug discovery. Considering the potential of natural products to manage the pandemic, this article was designed to provide an inclusive map of the stages and pathogenetic mechanisms for effective natural products on COVID-19. New drug discovery for the COVID-19 pandemic can encompass both prevention and disease management strategies. Preventive mechanisms that may be considered include boosting the immune response and hand hygiene in the preexposure phase; and blocking of virus binding and entry in the postexposure phase. Potential therapeutic target mechanisms include virus-directed therapies and host-directed therapies. Several medicinal plants and natural products, such as (L.) Dunal and propolis for prevention; (L.) for treatment; and (Desf.) Briq and L. for both prevention and treatment have been found effective and are good targets for future research. The examples of phytochemical compounds that may be effective include aloin and terpenes as anti-septics; isothymol, dithymoquinone, and glycyrrhizin as inhibitors of virus binding and entry; glycyrrhizin, and berberine as replication suppressants; ginsenoside Rg1 and parthenolide as immunomodulators; and eriocitrin, rhoifolin, hesperidin, naringin, rutin, and veronicastroside as anti-complements. Recognizing different mechanisms of fighting against this virus can lead to a more systematic approach in finding natural products and medicinal plants for COVID-19 prevention and treatment.
Topics: COVID-19; Humans; Pandemics; Phytotherapy; Plants, Medicinal; SARS-CoV-2
PubMed: 34985368
DOI: 10.1177/2515690X211053641 -
International Journal of Molecular... Apr 2021Many plants have been known for centuries to have medicinal importance with potential beneficial effects on health. Phytotherapeutic compounds are well known to play a...
Many plants have been known for centuries to have medicinal importance with potential beneficial effects on health. Phytotherapeutic compounds are well known to play a globally significant role, in particular in the management and treatment of various chronic diseases. Among these, diabetes can cause long term damage to the body other than having a relevant economic burden on society being among the costliest chronic diseases. This motivated the focus of the proposed Special Issue, intended to develop and exploit the potential role of plants in the management and treatment of diabetes. The main topics included are: (i) description and use of medicinal plants for diabetes management; (ii) the elucidation and delineation of their main components, properties (anti-hyperglycaemic, hypoglicaemic, anti-infiammatory, apoptotic agents, etc.), (iii) the mechanism of action (in vitro and in vivo studies); (iv) formulation of nutraceuticals, botanicals, and dietary supplements useful as tools as an alternative or support to anti-diabetic pharmacological therapies; (v) development of new markers.
Topics: Diabetes Mellitus; Humans; Hypoglycemic Agents; Phytotherapy; Plants, Medicinal
PubMed: 33920409
DOI: 10.3390/ijms22083938 -
Current Biology : CB Feb 2024Plants have been an essential source of human medicine for millennia. In this review, we argue that a holistic, interdisciplinary approach to the study of medicinal... (Review)
Review
Plants have been an essential source of human medicine for millennia. In this review, we argue that a holistic, interdisciplinary approach to the study of medicinal plants that combines methods and insights from three key disciplines - evolutionary ecology, molecular biology/biochemistry, and ethnopharmacology - is poised to facilitate new breakthroughs in science, including pharmacological discoveries and rapid advancements in human health and well-being. Such interdisciplinary research leverages data and methods spanning space, time, and species associated with medicinal plant species evolution, ecology, genomics, and metabolomic trait diversity, all of which build heavily on traditional Indigenous knowledge. Such an interdisciplinary approach contrasts sharply with most well-funded and successful medicinal plant research during the last half-century, which, despite notable advancements, has greatly oversimplified the dynamic relationships between plants and humans, kept hidden the larger human narratives about these relationships, and overlooked potentially important research and discoveries into life-saving medicines. We suggest that medicinal plants and people should be viewed as partners whose relationship involves a complicated and poorly explored set of (socio-)ecological interactions including not only domestication but also commensalisms and mutualisms. In short, medicinal plant species are not just chemical factories for extraction and exploitation. Rather, they may be symbiotic partners that have shaped modern societies, improved human health, and extended human lifespans.
Topics: Humans; Plants, Medicinal; Medicine, Traditional; Ethnobotany; Phytotherapy; Biodiversity
PubMed: 38412829
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.12.038 -
Biomolecules Aug 2020Recently, the application of herbal medicine for the prevention and treatment of diseases has gained increasing attention. Essential oils (EOs) are generally known to... (Review)
Review
Recently, the application of herbal medicine for the prevention and treatment of diseases has gained increasing attention. Essential oils (EOs) are generally known to exert various pharmacological effects, such as antiallergic, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory effects. Current literature involving in vitro and in vivo studies indicates the potential of various herbal essential oils as suitable immunomodulators for the alternative treatment of infectious or immune diseases. This review highlights the cellular effects induced by EOs, as well as the molecular impacts of EOs on cytokines, immunoglobulins, or regulatory pathways. The results reviewed in this article revealed a significant reduction in relevant proinflammatory cytokines, as well as induction of anti-inflammatory markers. Remarkably, very little clinical study data involving the immunomodulatory effects of EOs are available. Furthermore, several studies led to contradictory results, emphasizing the need for a multiapproach system to better characterize EOs. While immunomodulatory effects were reported, the toxic potential of EOs must be clearly considered in order to secure future applications.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Immune System Diseases; Immunity, Innate; Immunologic Factors; Oils, Volatile; Phytotherapy; Plant Oils
PubMed: 32756359
DOI: 10.3390/biom10081139 -
Annals of Parasitology 2023In recent years, there has been more and more new research on the therapeutic effects of plants and their positive impact on the fight against parasitic diseases. It is... (Review)
Review
In recent years, there has been more and more new research on the therapeutic effects of plants and their positive impact on the fight against parasitic diseases. It is of great importance, as it gives the opportunity to use this knowledge for phytotherapy, which is cheaper than pharmacological treatment, and as numerous studies have shown, it can be equally effective. Scientists are still looking for newer and newer chemicals that can be isolated from plants around us, and the current medicine is more and more willing to use natural medicines. In the following work, we present an overview of the most common parasitic diseases caused by protozoa, flatworms, roundworms, as well as by arachnids and fleas. We also presented alternative methods of treating these diseases using phytotherapy, which uses extracts of, among others, mint, tea tree, garlic, ginger, pumpkin seeds, annual mugwort, musk cosmos, walnuts, cocoa, grapes or black cumin.
Topics: Phytotherapy; Plant Extracts; Garlic; Parasitic Diseases; Antioxidants
PubMed: 38281734
DOI: 10.17420/ap6903/4.513