The massive expansion of the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has urged countries to introduce lockdowns and set restrictive actions worldwide. The focus of the studies was to determine how COVID-19 ...induces damage to the lungs in order to find an alternative or adjuvant therapy that could lead to preventing COVID-19 or at least ameliorating it. This paper aims to survey the literature and provide new insights into behavioral and dietary habits that could influence the prevention of COVID-19. Maintaining an adequate mental health status, sleep, and taking moderate exercise are often disrupted in the conditions of lockdown and are followed by weakened immunity. Mediterranean and vegetarian diets are superior to other eating patterns in terms of immunity boosting and fighting COVID-19. Our study showed how adequate hydration, green tea intake, and supplementation with vitamins D, C, and E can increase our chances of avoiding the infection and even help us sleep better. Another focus of the research was on determining what level of hygiene really increases one’s chances of not contracting SARS-CoV-2, but this seems a little counter-intuitive at first. Since an immunocompromised state is a familiar predisposing factor for all contagious diseases, maintaining healthy behavioral and dietary habits could be a crucial step in boosting immunity and preventing COVID-19.
Objectives
As there are no previous studies of the European wild‐garlic (Allium ursinum) effects on the gastrointestinal system, despite its traditional applications in gastrointestinal disorders' ...treatment and regular use in the human diet, we have quantified and compared spasmolytic, antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of its different leaf extracts.
Methods
Wild‐garlic extracts were tested for spasmolytic activity on isolated rat ileum, antimicrobial activity on selected Gram‐positive and Gram‐negative bacteria and fungi by microdilution method and antioxidant capacity by DPPH radical‐scavenging assay.
Key findings
Wild‐garlic extracts were found to decrease ileal basal tone. As the relaxation of K+‐induced contractions was similar to one caused by papaverin, the observed spasmolytic effect was most likely mediated through Ca2+‐channel inhibition. Ethanolic extract (with the highest phenolic and high alk(en)yl cysteine sulphoxides’ levels) produced the strongest spasmolytic activity. In case of acetylcholine‐induced contractions, only hydromethanolic extract showed no statistical difference in comparison with positive control. All samples exhibited certain antioxidant potential and strong antimicrobial activity against tested enteropathogenic strains (Salmonella enteritidis was the most sensitive, followed by Escherichia coli, Proteus mirabilis and Enterococcus faecalis).
Conclusion
Besides other already established health‐promoting effects, wild garlic could be useful in treatment of mild gastrointestinal disturbances.
There is little data on the phytochemical/pharmacological properties of
Salisb. (syn.
(Salisb.) Rchb.). This study examines the antioxidative and anti-inflammatory activities of different extracts ...and fractions of
on isolated rat peritoneal macrophages, in the carrageenan-induced rat paw oedema test, BSA test, and two complementary antioxidant assays. Ethanolic extracts of leaves, flowers, and aboveground parts, and petroleum ether, ether, ethyl acetate, and water fractionations of the ethanol extract of
applied at doses of 50-200 mg/kg
exhibited dose-dependent anti-inflammatory activity comparable with indomethacin. All tested samples, except for the petroleum ether fraction, exerted excellent
antioxidant activity, and all of them exhibited significant and similar inhibition of BSA denaturation comparable with diclofenac. Ethanolic extract of the aboveground parts obtained by percolation, ethyl acetate and water fractions had the highest efficiency, attenuating inflammation by more than 50% in the lowest applied concentration alongside exceptional radical scavenging activity.
One of the most popular beverages worldwide, green tea, was investigated for its potential protective effect in a rat model of gentamicin-induced nephrotoxicity by monitoring functional and ...morphological changes in kidneys.
The study was conducted on four groups of rats: control group (C), treated with only gentamicin (GM), treated with only green tea (GT) and treated with both gentamicin and green tea (GT+GM). Kidney function, oxidant and antioxidant parameters of renal tissue, as well as histopathological studies were assessed. Morphometric analysis was used to quantify these histopathological changes.
Gentamicin caused significant elevations in serum creatinine and urea and oxidative stress parameter (AOPP), while antioxidative enzyme catalase was significantly decreased. Histological sections of kidneys in GM group revealed necrosis of proximal tubules, vacuolation of cytoplasm and massive mononuclear inflammatory infiltrates in interstitium. Coadministration of green tea with gentamicin histologically showed renoprotective effect. Histological results were confirmed and quantified by morphometric analysis. Also in this group we measured ameliorated parameters of renal functions and antioxidative defense.
Regenerative potential of green tea after renal injury induced by gentamicin could be explained through the decrease of oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation. Green tea is a natural antioxidant, with many health promoting effects, widely available and in accordance to that affordable. Because of the established habits, people largely consume it as a beverage. It could be beneficial in the reduction of oxidative stress and changes caused by it primarily in renal tubules and interstitium.
Eastern and south-eastern Serbia is a cultural crossroads between East and West, and due to its economic underdevelopment, the traditional use of medicinal plants remains crucial in healthcare even ...today. This study aimed to collect and preserve ethnopharmacological knowledge about musculoskeletal, respiratory, circulatory, and genitourinary disorders, which are common in the local population. Information was collected using semi-structured anonymous ethnobotanical interviews with location informants. According to respondents, monographs of official international authorities (European Pharmacopoeia, ESCOP, WHO, EMA, and PDR) have been reviewed to confirm the traditional use of medicinal plants. Out of a total of 161 respondents, 58 (36%) declared that they use plants to treat musculoskeletal diseases, 147 (91.3%) to treat respiratory diseases, 113 (70.19%) to treat circulatory diseases, and 25 (15.53%) to treat genitourinary diseases. Among the plants that are traditionally used for the treatment of diseases of these organ systems, the following are highlighted for future research: Verbascum phlomoides, Inula helenium, and Rosmarinus officinalis for musculoskeletal; Ocimum basilicum, Robinia pseudoacacia and Primula vulgaris for respiratory; Urtica dioica, Allium ursinum, and Rosa canina for circulatory and Apium graveolens, Zea mays and Calendula officinalis for treatment of genitourinary system.
The synthesis, characterization and behaviour of two novel Leigh-type amide 2rotaxanes are reported. NMR study shows that fullerosteroidal and disteroidal rotaxanes occur in a peptide co-conformation ...in CDCl 3 . D 6 DMSO induces fast unthreading of disteroidal rotaxane, which includes steroid co-conformers as intermediates. On the other hand, fullerosteroidal rotaxane undergoes predominantly a shuttling process occupying the stacked co-conformation, whereas unthreading is very slow in comparison with its disteroidal analogue (25% after 7 days). Moreover, organogelation and self-organization properties were studied. It was found that disteroidal rotaxane is an organogelator and its SEM image shows that it forms a branched film-like network in a PhMe/EtOAc 1 : 1 mixture.
The ethanol extracts of selected Acinos Miller species were investigated in terms of chemical composition, antimicrobial and antioxidative activities. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of the ...extracts were performed using GC and GC-MS. Eighty-six constituents, accounting for 93.70-99.99% of the total composition of the extracts, were identified. The ethanol extracts of A. majoranifolius, A. suaveolens and A. alpinus were characterized by domination of monoterpenes, representing 85.03%, 57.39% and 28.02% of the total extracts, respectively. Fatty acids and their esters in the A. arvensis and A. graveolens extracts reached 28.97% and 30.75%. Also, n-alkanes were the major compounds found in A. hungaricus ethanol extract (30.98%). The extracts were characterized by determination of total polyphenols, flavonoids and tannins. Besides, the antioxidant activity of the investigated extracts was estimated by two assays: DPPH and FRAP test. The highest antioxidant activity was observed in the extract of A. alpinus which had high levels of all examined polyphenol classes. A disk diffusion method was employed for the determination of the antimicrobial activities of the ethanol extracts. Gram-positive: Bacillus subtilis, Sarcina lutea, Staphylococcus aureus, Clostridium pyogenes, Enterococcus sp., Micrococcus flavus; Gram-negative: Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aerugionsa, Salmonella enteritidis, Proteus vulgaris, Escherichia coli and fungal organisms: Aspergillus niger, Candida albicans and Saccharomyces cerevisiae were used as test microorganisms. The results of preliminary bioassay demonstrated that the A. alpinus ethanol extract could be a possible source of compounds with antioxidant and antimicrobial activity.
The present study is concerned with the oxidative behaviour of unsaturated and epoxy 5-oxo-5,10-secosteroids in the presence of m-CPBA or TFAA-UHP as oxidants in order to investigate potential ...parameters controlling the chemoselectivity and regioselectivity. In the study we discovered a striking difference in the chemical behaviour of stereoisomeric compounds, (Z)- and (E)-3β-acetoxy-5,10-secocholest-1(10)-en-5-ones, as well as 1S,10R- and 1R,10R-epoxides. The secoketones were oxidized with exclusively C-6 migration and Baeyer–Villiger rearrangement product formation, whereas their stereoisomers provided the ring-contracted products, without lactone formation. The preferred conformation of expanded and contracted rings was established by NOESY correlations. The structures of two obtained lactones were also confirmed by X-ray analysis. The mechanistic and stereochemical aspects of these transformations are discussed.
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