Essential Oil of Cestrum diurnum L.: GC/MS Analysis, in Vitro and in Silico Anti-HCoV-229E Effects and Inhibitory Activity against LPS-Induced Inflammation.

Cestrum diurnum L. (Solanaceae) is a fragrant ornamental tree cultivated in different parts around the world. In this study, the essential oil (EO) of the aerial parts was extracted by hydrodistillation (HD), steam distillation (SD) and microwave-assisted hydro-distillation (MAHD). GC/MS analysis of the three EOs revealed that phytol represents the major component in SD-EO and MAHD-EO (40.84 and 40.04 %, respectively); while in HD-EO it only represented 15.36 %. The SD-EO showed a strong antiviral activity against HCoV-229E with IC50 of 10.93 µg/mL, whereas, MAHD-EO and HD-EO showed a moderate activity with IC50 values of 119.9 and 148.2 µg/mL, respectively. The molecular docking of EO major components: phytol, octadecyl acetate and tricosane showed a strong binding to coronavirus 3-CL (pro). Moreover, the three EOs (50 µg/mL) decreased the levels of NO, IL-6 and TNF-α and suppressed IL-6 and TNF-α gene expression in LPS-induced inflammation model in RAW264.7 macrophage cell lines.

Botanicals against some important nematodal diseases: Ascariasis and hookworm infections.

Ascariasis and intestinal parasitic nematodes are the leading cause of mass mortality infecting many people across the globe. In light of the various deleterious side effects of modern chemical-based allopathic drugs, our preferences have currently shifted towards the use of traditional plant-based drugs or botanicals for treating diseases. The defensive propensities in the botanicals against parasites have probably evolved during their co-habitation with parasites, humans and plants in nature and hence their combative interference in one another's defensive mechanisms has occurred naturally ultimately being very effective in treating diseases. This article broadly outlines the utility of plant-based compounds or botanicals prepared from various medicinal herbs that have the potential to be developed as effective therapies against the important parasites causing ascariasis and intestinal hookworm infections leading to ascariasis & infections and thereby human mortality, wherein allopathic treatments are less effective and causes enormous side-effects.