Essential Oils and COVID-19.

Herbal products are a major source of herbal medicines and other medicines. Essential oils have shown various pharmacological activities, such as antiviral activity, and therefore are proposed to have potential activity against SARS-CoV-2. Due to their lipophilicity, essential oils can easily penetrate the viral membrane and cause the viral membrane to rupture. In addition, crude essential oils usually have many active constituents that can act on different parts of the virus including its cell entry, translation, transcription, and assembly. They have further beneficial pharmacological effects on the host's respiratory system, including anti-inflammatory, immune regulation, bronchiectasis, and mucolytics. This review reported potential essential oils which could be promising drugs for COVID-19 eradication. Essential oils have many advantages because they are promising volatile antiviral molecules, making them potential drug targets for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19, whether used alone or in combination with other chemotherapeutic drugs. The aim of the current review is to shed light on the potential essential oils against enveloped viruses and their proposed activity against SARS-CoV-2 which is also an enveloped virus. The objectives were to present all data reflecting the promising activities of diverse essential oils against enveloped viruses and how they could contribute to the eradication of COVID disease, especially in indoor places. The data collected for the current review were obtained through the SciFinder database, Google scholar, PubMed, and Mendeley database. The data of the current review focused on the most common essential oils which are available in the pharmaceutical market and showed noticeable activities against enveloped viruses such as HSV and influenza.

Metabolites profiling reveals for antimicrobial compositional differences and action mechanism in the toothbrushing stick "miswak" Salvadora persica.

Among many plant species suitable for preparing toothbrushing sticks, miswak (Salvadora persica, family Salvadoraceae) is found the most effective tool for oral hygiene. S. persica possesses antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal effects against oral microbes, mostly due to its benzyl isothiocyanate content. To provide insight into S. persica chemical composition, volatile constituents from roots and stems of S. persica grown in Egypt and Saudi Arabia were profiled using solid-phase microextraction (SPME) coupled to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). A total of 21 volatiles were identified with sulfur compounds amounting for the major volatile class. Orthogonal projection to latent structures-discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) revealed for benzyl isothiocyanate (BITC) enrichment in roots versus stems. Primary metabolites contributing to S. persica taste viz. sugars and organic acids were profiled using GC-MS with silylation. Polyols (sugars) viz. arabitol, meso-erythritol, and mannitol were found to predominate sugars composition in S. persica stems being most enriched in meso-erythritol. The impact of saliva on S. persica aroma profile was further assessed and revealing for no enhancement in BITC production with salivation, and further not being detected in toothpaste preparation claimed to contain S. persica extract. This study provides the most complete profile of volatiles, sugars, and organic acids in S. persica organs and more rationalizing its use as a toothbrush.

The wild Egyptian artichoke as a promising functional food for the treatment of hepatitis C virus as revealed via UPLC-MS and clinical trials.

Infection by hepatitis C virus (HCV) and its subsequent complications are a major cause of mortality worldwide. The water extract of the wild Egyptian artichoke (WEA) (Cynara cardunculus L. var. sylvestris (Lam.) Fiori) leaves is a freely available herbal product that is used for treatment of HCV-infection complications such as jaundice and ascites. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether WEA exhibits activity against HCV, identify bioactive chemicals in its extract and to tentatively examine the potential inhibitory interactions of WEA with human drug-metabolizing enzymes. The current pilot clinical trial revealed that the water extract of a WEA plant decreased the HCV viral load below the detection level in 12 out of 15 patients. Furthermore, the liver enzymes ALT and AST, as well as the level of bilirubin were normalized. The total WEA extract inhibited CYP2B6 (OH-BUP) and CYP2C19 (5-OH-OME) with high affinity, IC50 ∼ 20 µg ml(-1), while moderate inhibitory interactions were observed for CYP1A2, CYP2D6, CYP2E1 and CYP3A4. Results presented herein suggest that the WEA exhibits strong antiviral activity against HCV and may be useful for its treatment. Compared to the artichoke product "Hepar SL Forte(®)", WEA was found to be more enriched in sesquiterpenes versus the abundance of phenolic compounds, especially flavonoids in Hepar SL Forte(®) as revealed via UPLC-MS analysis coupled to chemometrics.

Pan-genotypic Hepatitis C Virus Inhibition by Natural Products Derived from the Wild Egyptian Artichoke.

UNLABELLED: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is the leading cause of chronic liver diseases. Water extracts of the leaves of the wild Egyptian artichoke (WEA) [Cynara cardunculus L. var. sylvestris (Lam.) Fiori] have been used for centuries in the Sinai Peninsula to treat hepatitis symptoms. Here we isolated and characterized six compounds from the water extracts of WEA and evaluated their HCV inhibition capacities in vitro. Importantly, two of these compounds, grosheimol and cynaropicrin, inhibited HCV with half-maximal effective concentrations (EC50s) in the low micromolar range. They inhibited HCV entry into target cells and were active against both cell-free infection as well as cell-cell transmission. Furthermore, the antiviral activity of both compounds was pan-genotypic as HCV genotypes 1a, 1b, 2b, 3a, 4a, 5a, 6a, and 7a were inhibited. Thus, grosheimol and cynaropicrin are promising candidates for the development of new pan-genotypic entry inhibitors of HCV infection. IMPORTANCE: Because there is no preventive HCV vaccine available today, the discovery of novel anti-HCV cell entry inhibitors could help develop preventive measures against infection. The present study describes two compounds isolated from the wild Egyptian artichoke (WEA) with respect to their structural elucidation, absolute configuration, and quantitative determination. Importantly, both compounds inhibited HCV infection in vitro. The first compound was an unknown molecule, and it was designated "grosheimol," while the second compound is the known molecule cynaropicrin. Both compounds belong to the group of sesquiterpene lactones. The mode of action of these compounds occurred during the early steps of the HCV life cycle, including cell-free and cell-cell infection inhibition. These natural compounds present promising candidates for further development into anti-HCV therapeutics.

New bicyclo-spartinols from the marine-derived fungus Phaeosphaeria spartinae.

Investigation of the marine-derived fungus Phaeosphaeria spartinae, an endophyte of the marine alga Ceramium sp., led to the isolation of the unprecedented polyketides 1 and 2. The structures of these compounds were established from extensive spectroscopic analyses.

Spartinoxide, a new enantiomer of A82775C with inhibitory activity toward HLE from the marine-derived Fungus Phaeosphaeria spartinae.

The fungus Phaeosphaeria spartinae is an endophyte of the marine alga Ceramium sp. Investigation of this marine-derived fungus led to the isolation of spartinoxide (1), which is the enantiomer of the known compound A82775C (2). Additionally, the known metabolites 4-hydroxy-3-prenyl-benzoic acid (4) and anofinic acid (5) were obtained. The structures of all compounds were established from extensive spectroscopic investigations. Compounds 1, 4 and 5 were assayed against the enzymes human leukocyte elastase (HLE), trypsin, acetylcholinesterase and cholesterolesterase. Compounds 1 and 4 showed potent inhibition of HLE with IC50 values of 1.71 +/- 0.30 microg/mL (6.5 microM) and 1.67 +/- 0.32 microg/mL (8.1 microM), respectively.

New polyketides from the marine-derived fungus Phaeosphaeria spartinae.

The fungus Phaeosphaeria spartinae is an endophyte of the marine alga Ceramium sp. Investigation of this marine-derived fungus led to the isolation of the new natural products spartinol A (1), B (2), C (3) and D (4). The structures of these closely related compounds were established from extensive spectroscopic investigations. Compound 3 showed weak inhibition of human leukocyte elastase (HLE).