The Effect of Curcumin on the Gut-Brain Axis: Therapeutic Implications.

The gut-brain axis describes the bidirectional communication between the gut, the enteric nervous system, and the central nervous system. The gut-brain axis has attracted increasing attention owing to its regulatory effect on dysbiosis and a wide range of related diseases. Several types of nutrients, such as curcumin, have been proposed as regulators of the dysbiotic state, and preclinical experiments have suggested that curcumin is not only beneficial but also safe. This review focuses on the interplay between curcumin and the gut microbiota. Moreover, it provides a comprehensive review of the crosstalk between the gut-brain axis and disease, whilst also discussing curcumin-mediated gut-brain axis-dependent and -independent signaling about modulation of gut microbiota dysbiosis. This will help to define the utility of curcumin as a novel therapeutic agent to regulate intestinal microflora dysbiosis.

Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) syrup as an adjunct to standard care in patients with mild to moderate COVID-19: An open-label, randomized, controlled clinical trial.

Objective: ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has been associated with clinical signs characterized by fever, fatigue and cough. Our study aimed to assess the efficacy of a Persian medicine formulation, lavender syrup, as an add-on to standard care in patients with mild to moderate COVID-19. Materials and Methods: In this clinical trial which was conducted in Gorgan (Iran), 84 male and female COVID-19 outpatients were randomly allocated to either lavender syrup receiving 9 ml/twice/day for 21 days with standard conventional care or control groups. The primary objectives were to assess the improvement of clinical symptoms, while the secondary objectives were treatment satisfaction and anxiety levels which were evaluated once a week for 3 weeks. Results: Out of 84 participants, 81 were analyzed (41 in the add-on group). The comparison between groups for cough severity and anosmia showed a higher reduction in the lavender group. The effect size was 0.6 for cough relief. Other symptoms and the Hamilton total score decreased in both groups with no statistically significant differences between the groups. The lavender group showed greater patients' satisfaction score. Conclusion: Adjunctive therapy with lavender syrup could reduce cough and improve the quality of life in patients with COVID-19 patients.

Neuroprotective effect of Potentilla reptans L. root in the rat brain global ischemia/reperfusion model.

Stroke is the most common cause of death among neurological diseases. The protective effects of Potentilla reptans L. include antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, and antiapoptotic effects. In this study, the brain protection and beta-amyloid effects of P. reptans root extract were investigated in the rat brain ischemia/reperfusion (IR) model. Forty male Wistar rats were randomly divided into five groups (n = 8), including IR, sham, and three groups receiving P. reptans with concentrations of 0.025, 0.05, and 0.1 (g/kg/b.w.), which were injected daily for 7 days. For the IR model, the common carotid artery was occluded bilaterally for 8 min. All injections were intraperitoneal (IP). The shuttle box test was used to measure passive avoidance memory. Then the brain tissue was extracted for the histological examination of neuron counts and ß-amyloid plaques using a morphometric technique, and finally, Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software was used for statistical analysis of the data. Pretreatment with P. reptans improved memory impairment. Also, by examining the tissues of the CA1, CA3, and dentate gyrus areas of the hippocampus, it was observed that the number of plaques in the groups receiving P. reptans extract was reduced compared to the IR group, especially at the concentration of 0.05 g/kg/b.w. Also, P. reptans improved the number of neurons at all concentrations, in which the concentration of 0.05 g/kg/b.w. showed more effective therapeutic results. Taken together, we found that P. reptans root extract has beneficial effects on memory impairment, neuronal loss, and ß-amyloid accumulation.

Taxonomical Investigation, Chemical Composition, Traditional Use in Medicine, and Pharmacological Activities of Boswellia sacra Flueck.

Aromatic oleo-gum-resin secreted from B. sacra, reputed as frankincense, is widely used in traditional medicine to treat Alzheimer's disease, gastric disorders, hepatic disorders, etc. Frankincense is also used in the cosmetic, perfume, and beverage and food industries. Frankincense is a rich resource for bioactive compounds, especially boswellic acids and derivatives. Although several reports have described frankincense's constituents and pharmacological activities, there is no comprehensive study that covers the valuable information on this species. Therefore, the current review will focus on the phytochemistry, traditional uses, and pharmacological activities of B. sacra.

Effect of Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia L.) syrup on olfactory dysfunction in COVID-19 infection: A pilot controlled clinical trial.

OBJECTIVE: The effect of lavender syrup on COVID-19-induced olfactory dysfunction (OD) has been assessed in this study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This pilot clinical trial was conducted in Gonbad-E-Kavoos (Golestan province, Iran). Twenty-three outpatients with COVID-19 and OD in lavender group took 9 ml of lavender syrup/bid for 3 weeks along with the standard COVID-19 treatments and 20 patients in control group took only standard COVID-19 treatments. The severity of OD was assessed by the visual analogue scale (VAS). Data analysis was performed by Friedman and Mann-Whitney tests using SPSS software. RESULTS: The mean± standard deviation of age was 36.6±9.1, and 42.6±10.4 years (p=0.05), and the duration of symptoms was 7.4±3.5, and 7.5±3.4 days (p=0.98) in the lavender and control group, respectively. The VAS score for OD decreased from 6.8±3.04 to 0.26±0.86 in the lavender group and from 5.3±3.4 to 1±2.61 in the control group. Although, VAS for OD was significantly decreased in both groups (p<0.001), the amount of VAS decrease was 6.6±2.9 scores in the lavender group, and 4.3±4 in the control group (p=0.03). No side effects were observed in the lavender group. CONCLUSION: The present study showed that lavender syrup is an effective treatment for COVID-19-induced OD. It is suggested to conduct further studies with larger sample size.

Protective role of nutraceuticals against myocarditis.

Myocarditis is an inflammatory disease of the myocardium that mostly affects young adults. The disease is commonly caused by viral infection, medications, autoimmune disorders, and inflammatory conditions. Nearly 50% of the cases of myocarditis are due to post-viral immune response in a setting of an identifiable or non-identifiable infection. The clinical manifestation is nonspecific ranging from asymptomatic courses to sudden death in infants and young patients. This review describes the properties of phytochemicals as plant-derived active ingredients which can be used in the prevention and treatment of myocarditis and its associated risk factors. Meanwhile, it has illustrated epidemiological analyses, mechanism of action, and the metabolism of phytochemicals in animal and human clinical trials. We also mentioned the precise mechanism of action by which phytochemicals elicit their anti-viral, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and immunomodulatory effects and how they regulate signal transduction pathways. Nevertheless, comprehensive clinical trials are required to study the properties of phytochemicals in vivo, in vitro, and in silico for a proper management of myocarditis. Our findings indicate that phytochemicals function as potent adjunctive therapeutic drugs in myocarditis and its related complications.

Anticancer Activity of Ethnopharmacological Plants of Golestan Province/Iran against AGS, HT-29 and KYSE-30 Cell Lines through Promoting the Apoptosis and Immunomodulatory Effects.

The anticancer and immunomodulatory effects of medicinal plants from Golestan province, as a promising source of cancer therapy against gastrointestinal cancer cell lines, were investigated in this study. The ethanolic root/aerial part extracts of 9 medicinal plants were screened for their cytotoxicity against normal mouse fibroblast cells (L-929) and three human cancer cell lines including gastric adenocarcinoma (AGS), colorectal adenocarcinoma (HT-29), and esophagus adenocarcinoma (KYSE-30) by performing MTT assay to determine the IC50 of the extracts. The in-vitro antioxidant activity, total phenolic (TPC), and total flavonoid content (TFC) of extracts was evaluated. Flow cytometry and Real-Time PCR were used for apoptosis assay and evaluation of expression of some genes involved in cell signaling; TLR-4, AKT, ERK1/2, and NFκB. Out of the 9 plant extracts screened, Arctiumlappa root (ALR), showed the most potent cytotoxicity against AGS, KYSE-30, and HT-29 cells with IC50 values of 10, 200, and 2030 µg/mL, respectively. In addition, ALR exerts high TPC (215.8 ± 0.3 mg GAE/g), TFC (69.03 ± 0.7 mg QUE/g) and high radical scavenging activity with IC50 (1250 ± 0.1 µg/mL) in DPPH method. Also, ALR stimulates TLR-4 signaling, increased apoptosis, and decreased cancer cell attachment to the surface compared to the untreated cells. This plant, with a strong cytotoxic effect on cancer cells as well as increased apoptosis and its effect on molecules involved in TLR4 signaling as the immunomodulatory effect can be a suitable candidate for in-vivo studies in the future for cancer therapy.

Potentilla reptans L. postconditioning protects reperfusion injury via the RISK/SAFE pathways in an isolated rat heart.

BACKGROUND: Our previous study indicated that Potentilla reptans root has a preconditioning effect by its antioxidant and anti-apoptotic effects in an isolated rat heart ischemia/reperfusion (IR) model. In the present study, we investigated the post-conditioning cardio-protective effects of Potentilla reptans and its active substances. METHODS: The ethyl acetate fraction of P. reptans root (Et) was subjected to an IR model under 30 min of ischemia and 100 min of reperfusion. To investigate the postconditioning effect, Et was perfused for 15 min at the early phase of reperfusion. RISK/SAFE pathway inhibitors, 5HD and L-NAME, were applied individually 10 min before the ischemia, either alone or in combination with Et during the early reperfusion phase. The hemodynamic factors and ventricular arrhythmia were calculated during the reperfusion. Oxidative stress, apoptosis markers, GSK-3ß and SGK1 proteins were assessed at the end of experiments. RESULTS: Et postconditioning (Etpost) significantly reduced the infarct size, arrhythmia score, ventricular fibrillation incidence, and enhanced the hemodynamic parameters by decreasing the MDA level and increasing expression of Nrf2, SOD and CAT activities. Meanwhile, Etpost increased the BCl-2/BAX ratio and decreased Caspase-3 expression. The cardioprotective effect of Etpost was abrogated by L-NAME, Wortmannin (a PI3K/Akt inhibitor), and AG490 (a JAK/STAT3 inhibitor). Finally, Etpost reduced the expression of GSK-3ß and SGK1 proteins pertaining to the IR group. CONCLUSION: P. reptans reveals the post-conditioning effects via the Nrf2 pathway, NO release, and the RISK/SAFE pathway. Also, Etpost decreased apoptotic indexes by inhibiting GSK-3ß and SGK1 expressions. Hence, our data suggest that Etpost can be a suitable natural candidate to protect cardiomyocytes during reperfusion injury.

Cardioprotective and anti-apoptotic effects of Potentilla reptans L. root via Nrf2 pathway in an isolated rat heart ischemia/reperfusion model.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown that proanthocyanidins have cardioprotective effects which are mediated via the release of nitric oxide (NO) ultimately resulting in increasing the antioxidant activity. We have investigated to show whether 1) the total extract and ethyl acetate fraction (Et) of Potentilla reptans root have an ischemic preconditioning (IPC) effect, 2) P. reptans has antioxidant and cardioprotective effects mediated by nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) pathway and scavenging of reactive oxygen species (ROS), 3) NO, caspase-3 and Bcl-2/Bax are involved in the IPC effect of P. reptans. METHODS: Male Wistar rats were divided into 10 groups. The isolated hearts were subjected to 30 min of ischemia and 100 min of reperfusion. The P. reptans was applied before the main ischemia. The infarct size was estimated by triphenyl-tetrazolium chloride staining. The hemodynamic parameters and ventricular arrhythmias were calculated during the reperfusion. Antioxidant markers and immunohistochemistry assays were determined at the end of the protocol. RESULTS: The Et significantly decreased the infarct size, arrhythmia scores, ventricular fibrillation incidence, and enhanced the hemodynamic parameters in a concentration-dependent manner against the ischemia/reperfusion group. SOD and CAT activity were increased and MDA level was decreased in response to the Et. Meanwhile, Et attenuated the suppression of Nrf2 expression and reduced the apoptotic indexes. The cardioprotective effect of P. reptans was abrogated by L-NAME. CONCLUSIONS: P. reptans demonstrated that the cardioprotective preconditioning effects via NO release, Nrf2 pathway, and antioxidant activity lead to a decrease in the apoptotic index.