Barbaloin: an amazing chemical from the 'wonder plant' with multidimensional pharmacological attributes.

Aloe vera (L.) Burm.f. is nicknamed the 'Miracle plant' or sometimes as the 'Wonder plant'. It is a plant that has been used since ancient times for the innumerable health benefits associated with it. It is one of the important plants that has its use in conventional medicinal treatments. It is a perennial succulent, drought-tolerant member of the family Asphodelaceae. There are scores of properties associated with the plant that help in curing various forms of human ailments. Extracts and gels obtained from plants have been shown to be wonderful healers of different conditions, mainly various skin problems. Also, this plant is popular in the cosmetics industry. The underlying properties of the plant are now mainly associated with the natural phytochemicals present in the plant. Diverse groups of phytoingredients are found in the plant, including various phenolics, amino acids, sugars, vitamins, and different other organic compounds, too. One of the primary ingredients found in the plant is the aloin molecule. It is an anthraquinone derivative and exists as an isomer of Aloin A and Aloin B. Barbaloin belonging to the first group is a glucoside of the aloe-emodin anthrone molecule. Various types of pharmacological properties exhibited by the plant can be attributed to this chemical. Few significant ones are antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, anti-cancer, anti-microbial, and anti-viral, along with their different immunity-boosting actions. Recently, molecular coupling studies have also found the role of these molecules as a potential cure against the ongoing COVID-19 disease. This study comprehensively focuses on the numerous pharmacological actions of the primary compound barbaloin obtained from the Aloe vera plant along with the mechanism of action and the potent application of these natural molecules under various conditions.

Aloe polymeric acemannan inhibits the cytokine storm in mouse pneumonia models by modulating macrophage metabolism.

The cytokine storm is highly associated with inflammatory-type disease severity and patients' survival. Plant polysaccharides, the main natural phytomedicine source, have a great potential to be an effective drug to treat cytokine storm. Herein we found that a polymeric acemannan (ABPA1) isolated from Aloe Vera Barbadensis extract C (AVBEC) exerted prominent inhibitory effects on inflammation-induced cytokine storm. The results displayed that ABPA1 effectively suppressed LPS-induced proinflammatory cytokines release in vitro. Moreover, ABPA1 treatment alleviated the cytokine storm and tissue damage in LPS- and IAV-induced mouse pneumonia models, and altered the phenotypic balance of macrophages in lung tissues. Functionally, ABPA1 enhanced macrophage M2 polarization and phagocytosis in RAW264.7 cells and inhibited LPS-induced M1 polarization. Mechanistically, ABPA1 enhanced mitochondrial metabolism and OXPHOS through activated PI3K/Akt/GSK-3ß signalling pathway. Overall, our findings suggest that ABPA1 may modulate macrophage activation and mitochondrial metabolism by targeting PI3K/Akt/GSK-3ß signalling pathway, thereby alleviating cytokine storm and inflammation.

Facile Synthesis of Bio-Antimicrobials with "Smart" Triiodides.

Multi-drug resistant pathogens are a rising danger for the future of mankind. Iodine (I2) is a centuries-old microbicide, but leads to skin discoloration, irritation, and uncontrolled iodine release. Plants rich in phytochemicals have a long history in basic health care. Aloe Vera Barbadensis Miller (AV) and Salvia officinalis L. (Sage) are effectively utilized against different ailments. Previously, we investigated the antimicrobial activities of smart triiodides and iodinated AV hybrids. In this work, we combined iodine with Sage extracts and pure AV gel with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as an encapsulating and stabilizing agent. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS), microstructural analysis by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and X-Ray-Diffraction (XRD) analysis verified the composition of AV-PVP-Sage-I2. Antimicrobial properties were investigated by disc diffusion method against 10 reference microbial strains in comparison to gentamicin and nystatin. We impregnated surgical sutures with our biohybrid and tested their inhibitory effects. AV-PVP-Sage-I2 showed excellent to intermediate antimicrobial activity in discs and sutures. The iodine within the polymeric biomaterial AV-PVP-Sage-I2 and the synergistic action of the two plant extracts enhanced the microbial inhibition. Our compound has potential for use as an antifungal agent, disinfectant and coating material on sutures to prevent surgical site infections.

Identification of Potential SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease and Spike Protein Inhibitors from the Genus Aloe: An In Silico Study for Drug Development.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) disease is a global rapidly spreading virus showing very high rates of complications and mortality. Till now, there is no effective specific treatment for the disease. Aloe is a rich source of isolated phytoconstituents that have an enormous range of biological activities. Since there are no available experimental techniques to examine these compounds for antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2, we employed an in silico approach involving molecular docking, dynamics simulation, and binding free energy calculation using SARS-CoV-2 essential proteins as main protease and spike protein to identify lead compounds from Aloe that may help in novel drug discovery. Results retrieved from docking and molecular dynamics simulation suggested a number of promising inhibitors from Aloe. Root mean square deviation (RMSD) and root mean square fluctuation (RMSF) calculations indicated that compounds 132, 134, and 159 were the best scoring compounds against main protease, while compounds 115, 120, and 131 were the best scoring ones against spike glycoprotein. Compounds 120 and 131 were able to achieve significant stability and binding free energies during molecular dynamics simulation. In addition, the highest scoring compounds were investigated for their pharmacokinetic properties and drug-likeness. The Aloe compounds are promising active phytoconstituents for drug development for SARS-CoV-2.