Aloe vera for Prevention of Acute Radiation Proctitis in Colorectal Cancer a Preliminary Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the preventive effects of Aloe vera in colorectal cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Twenty colorectal cancer patients, who received radiation, were randomized to receive Aloe vera 3% or placebo ointment, 1 g twice daily for 6 weeks. At weekly visits, acute radiation proctitis (ARP) was evaluated by Radiation Therapy Oncology Group and clinical presentation criteria as the primary endpoint. We also evaluated secondary endpoints of quality of life, psychosocial status, by applying Hospital Anxiety-Depression (HAD) Scale and laboratory measures of quantitative measurement of C-reactive protein (CRP) as a marker for systemic inflammation. RESULTS: There was a significant improvement in the symptom index (before treatment vs. after treatment with Aloe vera) for diarrhea (p = 0.029, median score: 0.5 vs. 0.001). The overall primary and secondary outcomes favored Aloe group, while the measures of toxicity did not achieve a statistical significant difference. The lifestyle score improved significantly with A. vera (p = 004), and they also had a lower depression score in HAD scale (p = 0.008). Furthermore, quantitative CRP decreased significantly during the course of treatment with Aloe vera. CONCLUSION: The use of topical formulation of Aloe vera 3% diminishes the severity of ARP in colorectal cancer patients.

Prospective therapeutic potential of Tanshinone IIA: An updated overview.

In the past decades, the branch of complementary and alternative medicine based therapeutics has gained considerable attention worldwide. Pharmacological efficacy of various traditional medicinal plants, their products and/or product derivatives have been explored on an increasing scale. Tanshinone IIA (Tan IIA) is a pharmacologically active lipophilic component of Salvia miltiorrhiza extract. Tan IIA shares a history of high repute in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Reckoning with these, the present review collates the pharmacological properties of Tan IIA with a special emphasis on its therapeutic potential against diverse diseases including cardiovascular diseases, cerebrovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, obesity and neurogenerative diseases. Further, possible applications of various therapeutic preparations of Tan IIA were discussed with special emphasis on nano-based drug delivery formulations. Considering the tremendous advancement in the field of nanomedicine and the therapeutic potential of Tan IIA, the convergence of these two aspects can be foreseen with great promise in clinical application.

The prophylaxis and treatment potential of supplements for COVID-19.

The global impact of the new coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), infection that caused COVID-19 has been evident in the last few months from the unprecedented socioeconomic disruption to more than 600,000 deaths. The lack of vaccine and effective therapeutic agents for the disease prompted world-wide effort to test those antiviral therapeutics already in use for other diseases. Another interesting approach has been based on the pathological sequel of the disease that involve severe inflammatory reaction (or the cytokine storm) associated with pneumonia in critically ill patients. This article outlines the prophylaxis therapeutic potential of supplements vitamins and micronutrients in COVID-19. By ameliorating the inflammatory and oxidative stress associated with the disease and some direct antiviral effects, the application of these agents as adjuvants and other alternative approaches are discussed. Available clinical trials including those currently registered on these supplements are scrutinized.