Ethnobotanical Uses, Phytochemistry, Toxicology, and Pharmacological Properties of Euphorbia neriifolia Linn. against Infectious Diseases: A Comprehensive Review.

Medicinal plants have considerable potential as antimicrobial agents due to the presence of secondary metabolites. This comprehensive overview aims to summarize the classification, morphology, and ethnobotanical uses of Euphorbia neriifolia L. and its derived phytochemicals with the recent updates on the pharmacological properties against emerging infectious diseases, mainly focusing on bacterial, viral, fungal, and parasitic infections. The data were collected from electronic databases, including Google Scholar, PubMed, Semantic Scholar, ScienceDirect, and SpringerLink by utilizing several keywords like 'Euphorbia neriifolia', 'phytoconstituents', 'traditional uses', 'ethnopharmacological uses', 'infectious diseases', 'molecular mechanisms', 'COVID-19', 'bacterial infection', 'viral infection', etc. The results related to the antimicrobial actions of these plant extracts and their derived phytochemicals were carefully reviewed and summarized. Euphol, monohydroxy triterpene, nerifoliol, taraxerol, ß-amyrin, glut-5-(10)-en-1-one, neriifolione, and cycloartenol are the leading secondary metabolites reported in phytochemical investigations. These chemicals have been shown to possess a wide spectrum of biological functions. Different extracts of E. neriifolia exerted antimicrobial activities against various pathogens to different extents. Moreover, major phytoconstituents present in this plant, such as quercetin, rutin, friedelin, taraxerol, epitaraxerol, taraxeryl acetate, 3ß-friedelanol, 3ß-acetoxy friedelane, 3ß-simiarenol, afzelin, 24-methylene cycloarenol, ingenol triacetate, and ß-amyrin, showed significant antimicrobial activities against various pathogens that are responsible for emerging infectious diseases. This plant and the phytoconstituents, such as flavonoids, monoterpenoids, diterpenoids, triterpenoids, and alkaloids, have been found to have significant antimicrobial properties. The current evidence suggests that they might be used as leads in the development of more effective drugs to treat emerging infectious diseases, including the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

A comprehensive account on ethnobotany, phytochemistry and pharmacological insights of genus Celtis.

The plants of Celtis L. genus have been traditionally used to cure aches, sore throats, fevers, cancer, sexually transmitted diseases, sexual weakness, diarrhea, stomach problems, amenorrhea, menstrual disorders, kidney stones, and pain. The review aims to give a comprehensive account of the current state of ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry, and biological activities of the Celtis genus, as well as to describe the potential area of future avenues. Information on the Celtis genus was obtained from internet sources such as Google Scholar, Web of Science, PubMed, ScienceDirect, and so on by using appropriate keywords, including ethnobotanical, pharmacological, pharmaceutical, bioactivity, phytochemistry, and botanical features of the Celtis genus. This review identified 14 species in the genus Celtis that have a phytopharmacological investigation, including C.africana Burm. f., C. australis L., C. occidentalis L., C. sinensis Pers., C. philippensis Blanco., C. tetrandra Roxb., C. tessmannii Rendle., C. jessoensis Koidz., C. adolfi-friderici Engl., C. iguanaea (Jacq.) Sarg., C. laevigata Wild., C. pallida Torr., C. zenkeri Engl., and C. tournefortii Lam. This genus contains many classified phytoconstituents, such as terpenoids, organic acids, flavonoids, and volatile compounds. Their extracts and pure substances have been shown to have the same anticancer, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, hepatoprotective, cardioprotective, urease-inhibiting, and antidiarrheal properties as their traditional uses. In terms of current information on ethnopharmacology, phytochemicals, and pharmacological uses, the data acquired in this review could be beneficial and needed for future research. Some phytoconstituents (for instance, kaempferol, myricetin, quercetin, and eugenol) and extracts (for example, leaves, seeds, and ripe fruits extracts of C. australis) showed tremendous results in preliminary testing with promising antimicrobial, anticancer, and urease inhibitory effects. Further research and clinical investigations are needed to develop them as lead compounds and neutraceuticals, which may provide an advance over traditional medicinal systems.

Chemico-pharmacological and computational studies of Ophiorrhiza fasciculata D. Don and Psychotria silhetensis Hook. f. focusing cytotoxic, thrombolytic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antibacterial properties.

The current study sought to examine the pharmacological potentials of crude methanolic extracts of Ophiorrhiza fasciculata and Psychotria silhetensis, as well as their various solvent fractionates, with a focus on cytotoxic, thrombolytic, membrane stabilizing, antioxidant, and antibacterial activities via in vitro and in silico approaches. The extensive chromatographic and spectroscopic analyses confirmed and characterized two compounds as (±)-licarin B (1) and stigmasterol (2) from O. fasciculata and P. silhetensis, respectively. Petroleum ether soluble fraction of O. fasciculata and the aqueous soluble fraction of P. silhetensis showed the lowest 50% lethal concentrations (1.41 and 1.94 µg/mL, respectively) in brine shrimp bioassay. Likewise, petroleum ether soluble fraction of O. fasciculata and aqueous soluble fraction of P. silhetensis showed the highest thrombolytic activity with 46.66% and 50.10% lyses of the clot, respectively. The methanol and dichloromethane soluble fractions of O. fasciculata reduced erythrocyte hemolysis by 64.03% and 37.08%, respectively, under hypotonic and heat-induced conditions, compared to 81.97% and 42.12% for standard acetylsalicylic acid. In antioxidant activity test, aqueous soluble fraction O. fasciculata (IC50 = 7.22 µg/mL) revealed promising antioxidant potentialities in comparison to standard butylated hydroxytoluene (IC50 = 21.20 µg/mL). In antibacterial screening, chloroform, and dichloromethane soluble fractions of P. silhetensis showed a mild antibacterial activity compared with the standard drug ciprofloxacin. Additionally, the molecular docking study corroborated the current in vitro findings, and the isolated two constituents had higher binding affinities toward epidermal growth factor receptor, tissue plasminogen activator, vFLIP-IKK gamma stapled peptide dimer, glutathione reductase, and dihydrofolate reductase enzyme than their corresponding standard drugs. In addition, the both isolated compounds exerted favorable pharmacokinetics (absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion) and toxicological profiles with drug-like qualities in computational-based ADMET and drug likeliness analyses. The current research suggests that both plants have potential as a natural treatment for treating thrombosis, inflammation, and oxidative stress. However, more thorough research is required to thoroughly screen for phytochemicals and pinpoint the precise mechanisms of action of the bioactive metabolites derived from these plants against a broad range of molecular targets.

Phytochemical and Pharmacological Profiling of Heritiera fomes Buch. Ham. Deciphered Thrombolytic, Antiarthritic, Anthelmintic, and Insecticidal Potentialities via In Vitro Approach.

Medicinal plants have been crucial in treating various chronic ailments since ancient times. The objective of this study was to evaluate in vitro pharmacological properties of petroleum ether, chloroform, and ethyl acetate soluble fractions of ethanolic extract (leaf, bark, and root) of Heritiera fomes Buch. Ham., including the phytochemical screening of the plant. Thrombolytic and antiarthritic properties were assessed through the clot lysis and protein denaturation experimental method, correspondingly. Anthelmintic and insecticidal activities were studied against Pheretima posthuma and Tribolium castaneum, respectively. The phytochemical analysis exhibited numerous active phytochemicals in different solvent fractions. In thrombolytic investigation, among all crude extracts, ethanolic leaf extract showed the highest 33.12 ± 7.52% clot lysis as compared to standard streptokinase (67.77 ± 9.78%). In antiarthritic assay, all the tested samples exhibited noteworthy protein denaturation in dose-dependent manner (100-500 µg/mL), whereas the utmost percentage inhibition was noticed for chloroform extract of roots (63.28 ± 5.96% at 500 µg/mL). All crude extracts exhibited a significant anthelmintic activity in different concentrations (25-75 mg/mL) and revealed paralysis and death of earthworms in comparison with albendazole; ethanolic extract of the bark was found to be more potent at the highest dose. For the insecticidal test, ethanolic extract of the leaf showed the utmost mortality rate (73%). The outcomes of the investigation confirmed the potential thrombolytic, antiarthritic, anthelmintic, and insecticidal activities of the different extracts of H. fomes, and hence, advanced studies on the isolation and identification of active phytocompounds are highly needed for new drug development.