Impact of Traditional Plants and their Secondary Metabolites in the Discovery of COVID-19 Treatment.

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus Disease-2019 belongs to the family of viruses which cause serious pneumonia along with fever, breathing issues and infection of lungs, and was first reported in China and later spread worldwide. OBJECTIVE: Several studies and clinical trials have been conducted to identify potential drugs and vaccines for Coronavirus Disease-2019. The present study listed natural secondary metabolites identified from plant sources with antiviral properties and could be a safer and tolerable treatment for Coronavirus Disease-2019. METHODS: A comprehensive search on the reported studies was conducted using different search engines such as Google Scholar, SciFinder, Sciencedirect, Medline PubMed, and Scopus for the collection of research articles based on plant-derived secondary metabolites, herbal extracts, and traditional medicine for coronavirus infections. RESULTS: Status of COVID-19 worldwide and information of important molecular targets involved in COVID- 19 are described, and through literature search, it is highlighted that numerous plant species and their extracts possess antiviral properties and are studied with respect to coronavirus treatments. Chemical information, plant source, test system type with a mechanism of action for each secondary metabolite are also mentioned in this review paper. CONCLUSION: The present review has listed plants that have presented antiviral potential in the previous coronavirus pandemics and their secondary metabolites, which could be significant for the development of novel and a safer drug which could prevent and cure coronavirus infection worldwide.

Salvianolic acid A & B: potential cytotoxic polyphenols in battle against cancer via targeting multiple signaling pathways.

Nature has generously offered life-saving therapies to mankind by providing evolutionarily optimized drug-like entities in the form of natural products. These splendid gifts of nature have served as most suitable candidates for anti-cancer drug discovery due to their pleiotropic activity on target molecules. This review aims to provide an update on the natural sources and bioactivities of such gifts from nature, salvianolic acid A & B, which are major bioactive constituents of a traditional Chinses medicinal herb, Salvia miltiorrhiza. Salvianolic acid A & B have been reported to owe anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory and cardioprotective activities. Currently salvianolic acids have been emerged as potent anti-cancer molecules. Salvianolic acid A & B fight cancer progression by prompting apoptosis, halting cell cycle and adjourning metastasis by targeting multiple deregulated signaling networks of cancer. Moreover, salvianolic acid A & B display potency towards sensitizing cancer cells to chemo-drugs. The review purposes that salvianolic acid A & B supply a novel opportunity for drug discovery but further experimentation is mandatory to embellish the knowledge of their pharmacological usage and to access their toxicological limits in order to establish these compounds as potential multitarget future drugs.