Paleomedicine and the Evolutionary Context of Medicinal Plant Use

Management of diabetes mellitus using medicinal plants: A review

Diabetes mellitus has a global impact affecting 422 million individuals and leading to significant health complications. This makes it a pressing global health concern. Present treatments prioritize alleviating symptoms; however, it is imperative to adopt a multitarget strategy. Herbal medicines, which have been historically employed in traditional medicine, have undergone animal experiments to assess their efficacy in reducing or preventing the disease. Known data shows that the phytochemicals found in medicinal plants have anti-hypoglycemic properties. Hence, we review the therapeutic properties of Withania somnifera, Trigonella foenum-graecum, Moringa oliefera, Memmordica charantia and Allium sativa.

Chlorogenic Acid and Cinnamaldehyde in Combination Inhibit Metastatic Traits and Induce Apoptosis via Akt Downregulation in Breast Cancer Cells

Most reported breast cancer-associated deaths are directly correlated with metastatic disease. Additionally, the primary goal of treating metastatic breast cancer is to prolong life. Thus, there remains the need for more effective and safer strategies to treat metastatic breast cancer. Recently, more attention has been given to natural products (or phytochemicals) as potential anticancer treatments. This study aimed to investigate the synergistic effects of the combination of the phytochemicals chlorogenic acid and cinnamaldehyde (CGA and CA) toward inhibiting metastasis. The hypothesis was that CGA and CA in combination decrease the metastatic potential of breast cancer cells by inhibiting their invasive and migratory abilities as well as the induction of apoptosis via the downregulation of the Akt, disrupting its signal transduction pathway. To test this, wound-healing and Transwell™ Matrigel™ assays were conducted to assess changes in the migration and invasion properties of the cells; apoptosis was analyzed by fluorescence microscopy for Annexin V/propidium iodide; and immunoblotting and FACSort were performed on markers for the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition status. The results show that CGA and CA significantly downregulated Akt activation by inhibiting phosphorylation. Consequently, increased caspase 3 and decreased Bcl2-α levels were observed, and apoptosis was confirmed. The inhibition of metastatic behavior was demonstrated by the attenuation of N-cadherin, fibronectin, vimentin, and MMP-9 expressions with concomitant increased expressions of E-cadherin and EpCAM. In summary, the present study demonstrated that CGA and CA in combination downregulated Akt activation, inhibited the metastatic potential, and induced apoptosis in different breast cancer cell lines.

Natural Products as Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors: Potential Agents for Neurological Disorders

The role of medicinal plants has been advantageous due to their manifestation through various cellular and molecular mechanisms. Inhibition of the monoamine oxidase enzyme is suspected to be a highly effective treatment for various neurological illnesses like Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, depression, social phobia, and panic disorders. The study of phytochemicals and plant extracts used as a traditional source of medication revealed that they possess the vast potential for monoamine oxidase inhibition. Thus, the article focuses on the potential use of plant extracts and phytochemicals as sources of novel MAO inhibitors for treating neurological disorders. Exhaustive literature search revealed that a variety of phytochemicals from the categories such as flavonoids, alkaloids, glycosides, alkyl phenyl ketones, coumarin derivatives and essential oils have displayed potential MAO inhibition. This review highlights the progress made in the discovery and development of plant-based MAO inhibitors and aims to provide medicinal chemists with an overview of this information to aid in the development of clinically viable drugs.

Microbiology of the built environment: harnessing human-associated built environment research to inform the study and design of animal nests and enclosures

SUMMARYOver the past decade, hundreds of studies have characterized the microbial communities found in human-associated built environments (BEs). These have focused primarily on how the design and use of our built spaces have shaped human-microbe interactions and how the differential selection of certain taxa or genetic traits has influenced health outcomes. It is now known that the more removed humans are from the natural environment, the greater the risk for the development of autoimmune and allergic diseases, and that indoor spaces can be harsh, selective environments that can increase the emergence of antimicrobial-resistant and virulent phenotypes in surface-bound communities. However, despite the abundance of research that now points to the importance of BEs in determining human-microbe interactions, only a fraction of non-human animal structures have been comparatively explored. It is here, in the context of human-associated BE research, that we consider the microbial ecology of animal-built natural nests and burrows, as well as artificial enclosures, and point to areas of primary interest for future research.

Interactions between local medical systems and the biomedical system: a conceptual and methodological review in light of hybridization subprocesses

Local medical systems (LMSs) are complex and dynamic, encompassing local perceptions of diseases, prevention and treatment strategies, and evaluations of therapeutic responses. These systems are not isolated and interact with other medical systems, such as the biomedical system. The interaction between these systems creates a "contact zone", which some authors refer to as intermedicality, involving both competitive and complementary interactions. However, there is limited discussion in the literature regarding the complexity of these interactions. Some studies seek to understand this interaction through the lens of hybridization, a concept introduced to ethnobiology by Ana Ladio and Ulysses Albuquerque. The authors conceptualize hybridization as "discrete structures and practices coming together to form a new practice not necessarily implying homogenization." They discuss hybridization in the context of medicinal plants used in urban settings and propose seven hybridization subprocesses to gain a deeper understanding of this phenomenon. In this study, we update these hybridization subprocesses, expanding the concepts to comprehend the specific interaction of resources from LMS and biomedical systems known and used by different human groups. In this context, we propose a new subprocess and have made adjustments to the existing subprocesses to encompass the diversity of possible interactions between medicinal plants and pharmaceuticals, providing evidence from the literature demonstrating interactions that can be classified within the proposed subprocesses. Furthermore, we discuss, from a theoretical standpoint, how these subprocesses may have implications for the resilience of medical systems. Moreover, we propose a flowchart that can be utilized to identify these hybridization subprocesses in intermedicality contexts in future studies. These classifications are crucial because they enable us to comprehend the complexity of interactions between medicinal plants and pharmaceuticals, as well as the impacts that these different interactions can have on the resilience of LMSs.

Ethnobotanical Insights into Medicinal and Culinary Plant Use: The Dwindling Traditional Heritage of the Dard Ethnic Group in the Gurez Region of the Kashmir Valley, India

This ethnobiological study addresses the complicated relationship between the Dard ethnic group and their natural environment in the Gurez region of the Kashmir Valley. The study documents their traditional knowledge of the use of plant species for medicinal and culinary purposes. A total of 87 plant species from 41 different families were cataloged, with the Asteraceae family (15 species) and the Lamiaceae family (12 species) being the most commonly used. These plants were found to be used to treat 20 different ailments, with menstrual cramps being the most common (12 species). The fidelity values for these plants ranged from 11.10 to 71.42, demonstrating their importance in traditional medicine. In addition, 17 plant species were found to be useful for gastronomic purposes, with Juglans regia being the most valuable (use value of 0.73). The study also evaluated the conservation status of these plants and found that seven of them are considered critically endangered, ten endangered, and four endangered according to the IUCN classification. This study offers insights into the Dard people's deep connection to their natural environment and has significant implications for policy formulation, cultural conservation, and sustainable use of endemic species, as well as potential applications in pharmaceutical research for therapeutic compounds.

Impact of Phylogenetically Diverse Bacterial Endophytes of Bergenia pacumbis on Bergenin Production in the Plant Cell Suspension Cultures

Plant in vitro cultures are potential sources for secondary metabolites. However, low productivity is often a major drawback for industrial application. Elicitation is an important strategy to improve product formation in vitro. In this context, endophytes are of special interest as biotic elicitors due to their possible interaction with the metabolism of the host plant. A total of 128 bacterial endophytes were isolated from the medicinal plant Bergenia pacumbis and taxonomically classified using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Five strains belonging to different genera were grown in lysogeny broth and tryptic soy broth medium and cells as well as spent media were used as elicitors in cell suspension cultures of B. pacumbis. Production of the main bioactive compound bergenin was enhanced 3-fold (964 µg/g) after treatment with cells of Moraxella sp. or spent tryptic soy broth medium of Micrococcus sp. These results indicate that elicitation of plant cell suspension cultures with endophytic bacteria is a promising strategy for enhancing the production of desired plant metabolites.

Neuroimaging in psychedelic drug development: past, present, and future

Psychedelic therapy (PT) is an emerging paradigm with great transdiagnostic potential for treating psychiatric disorders, including depression, addiction, post-traumatic stress disorder, and potentially others. 'Classic' serotonergic psychedelics, such as psilocybin and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), which have a key locus of action at the 5-HT2A receptor, form the main focus of this movement, but substances including ketamine, 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and ibogaine also hold promise. The modern phase of development of these treatment modalities in the early 21st century has occurred concurrently with the wider use of advanced human neuroscientific research methods; principally neuroimaging. This can potentially enable assessment of drug and therapy brain effects with greater precision and quantification than any previous novel development in psychiatric pharmacology. We outline the major trends in existing data and suggest the modern development of PT has benefitted greatly from the use of neuroimaging. Important gaps in existing knowledge are identified, namely: the relationship between acute drug effects and longer-term (clinically-relevant) effects, the precise characterisation of effects at the 5-HT2A receptor and relationships with functional/clinical effects, and the possible impact of these compounds on neuroplasticity. A road-map for future research is laid out, outlining clinical studies which will directly address these three questions, principally using combined Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) methods, plus other adjunct techniques. Multimodal (PET/MRI) studies using modern PET techniques such as the 5-HT2A-selective ligand [11 C]Cimbi-36 (and other ligands sensitive to neuroplasticity changes) alongside MRI measures of brain function would provide a 'molecular-functional-clinical bridge' in understanding. Such results would help to resolve some of these questions and provide a firmer foundation for the ongoing development of PT.

Acetylcholinesterase Inhibition Activity of Hippeastrum papilio (Ravenna) Van Scheepen (Amaryllidaceae) Using Zebrafish Brain Homogenates

The Amaryllidaceae family constitutes an interesting source of exclusive alkaloids with a broad spectrum of biological activity. Galanthamine, the most relevant one, has been commercialized for the palliative treatment of Alzheimer's disease symptoms since 2001 due to its potential as an acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitor. In vitro screenings against AChE by applying different Amaryllidaceae species and alkaloids have been reported in the literature; however, they are usually carried out using purified market enzymes. The main goal of this work is to evaluate the AChE inhibitory potential of Hippeastrum papilio (Amaryllidaceae) extracts using zebrafish brain homogenates. The biological assays show that the H. papilio bulb extracts present an interesting AChE inhibitory activity in comparison with the positive reference control galanthamine (IC50 values of 1.20 ± 0.10 and 0.79 ± 0.15 μg/mL, respectively). The chemical profile of H. papilio shows that this species has a high amount of galanthamine, which may contribute to the inhibitory effect on AChE activity of zebrafish brains. Computational experiments were used to build the model for zebrafish AChE and to evaluate the interactions between galanthamine and the enzymic active site. This work suggests that zebrafish could represent an important model in the search for bioactive molecules from the Amaryllidaceae family for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

The Cannabis sativa genetics and therapeutics relationship network: automatically associating cannabis-related genes to therapeutic properties through chemicals from cannabis literature

BACKGROUND

Understanding the genome of Cannabis sativa holds significant scientific value due to the multi-faceted therapeutic nature of the plant. Links from cannabis gene to therapeutic property are important to establish gene targets for the optimization of specific therapeutic properties through selective breeding of cannabis strains. Our work establishes a resource for quickly obtaining a complete set of therapeutic properties and genes associated with any known cannabis chemical constituent, as well as relevant literature.

METHODS

State-of-the-art natural language processing (NLP) was used to automatically extract information from many cannabis-related publications, thus producing an undirected multipartite weighted-edge paragraph co-occurrence relationship network composed of two relationship types, gene-chemical and chemical property. We also developed an interactive application to visualize sub-graphs of manageable size.

RESULTS

Two hundred thirty-four cannabis constituent chemicals, 352 therapeutic properties, and 124 genes from the Cannabis sativa genome form a multipartite network graph which transforms 29,817 cannabis-related research documents from PubMed Central into an easy to visualize and explore network format.

CONCLUSION

Use of our network replaces time-consuming and labor intensive manual extraction of information from the large amount of available cannabis literature. This streamlined information retrieval process will enhance the activities of cannabis breeders, cannabis researchers, organic biochemists, pharmaceutical researchers and scientists in many other disciplines.

Possible Causes of Hypertrophic Osteoarthropathy in the La Ferrassie 1 Neanderthal

For over a century, researchers have been perplexed by the unique osteological findings on La Ferrassie 1 (LF1), one of the most complete Neanderthal remains ever found. In 1997, Fennel and Trinkaus proposed that LF1 suffered from hypertrophic osteoarthropathy (HOA), likely secondary to chronic thoracic infection or pulmonary malignancy. This disease process can have many etiologies, and no study has fully explored the possible origin of LF1's HOA. Ultimately, it is most likely that LF1's HOA etiology arose from one of the many infectious diseases that prehistoric Neanderthals were exposed to, specifically a chronic pulmonary RNA virus.

Medicinal Plants in Peru as a Source of Immunomodulatory Drugs Potentially Useful Against COVID-19

The current COVID-19 pandemic, characterized by a highly contagious severe acute respiratory syndrome, led us to look for medicinal plants as an alternative to obtain new drugs, especially those with immunomodulatory abilities, capable of acting against the pulmonary infection caused by coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Despite medical advances with COVID-19 drugs and vaccines, plant-based compounds could provide an array of suitable candidates to test against this virus, or at the very least, to alleviate some symptoms. Therefore, this review explores some plants widely used in Peru that show immunomodulatory properties or, even more, contain phytoconstituents potentially useful to prevent or alleviate the COVID-19 infection. More interestingly, the present review highlights relevant information from those plants to support the development of new drugs to boost the immune system. We used three criteria to choose nine vegetal species, and a descriptive search was then conducted from 1978 to 2021 on different databases, using keywords focused on the immune system that included information such as pharmacological properties, phytochemical, botanical, ethnobotanical uses, and some clinical trials. From these literature data, our results displayed considerable immunomodulation activity along with anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antioxidant, and antitumoral activities. Noticeably, these pharmacological activities are related with a wide variety of bioactive phytoconstituents (mixtures or isolated compounds) which may be beneficial in modulating the overt inflammatory response in severe COVID-19. Further scientific research on the pharmacological activities and clinical utilization of these potential plants are warranted.

Graphical Abstract

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s43450-023-00367-w.

Definition of self-medication: a scoping review

Self-medication (SM) is a global and growing phenomenon. It represents a public health problem due to antibiotic resistance, risk of adverse drug reactions, drug–drug interactions, disease masking, and increased morbidity. There is not a consensus on the definition of SM. The definitions found in different studies make it difficult to address this problem from a theoretical perspective and therefore find an adequate solution to this public health problem. The aim of this article is to search the medical literature to characterize the current understanding of SM in the medical community. We conducted a scoping review of definitions of SM by searching on PubMed – Medline, Embase, and LILACS using the following combination of keywords: ‘self-prescription’ or ‘self prescription’, ‘self-medication’ or ‘self medication’, or ‘automedication’ and ‘definition’ or ‘explanation’. The search was limited to articles containing the definition of SM, with no limit on language or year. Duplicate studies and those that did not mention the definition of SM were excluded from the final review. A total of 65 studies were included in the final selection. We found a vast heterogeneity in the definition of SM. Most articles based their definition of SM on the process of obtaining the drug, the nonparticipation of a specific health professional, the source of the medication, and the reason for SM. Other interesting concepts such as self-care, nonadherence to a prescription, reuse of stored drugs, and sharing and lending medicines were also considered forms of SM by other authors, however. This study highlights the need to reach a consensus regarding the definition of SM to adequately propose strategies to address this global health problem. This study shows the diverse concepts that need to be included in a future definition of SM.

Perspectives for Uses of Propolis in Therapy against Infectious Diseases

Propolis has gained wide popularity over the last decades in several parts of the world. In parallel, the literature about propolis composition and biological properties increased markedly. A great number of papers have demonstrated that propolis from different parts of the world is composed mainly of phenolic substances, frequently flavonoids, derived from plant resins. Propolis has a relevant role in increasing the social immunity of bee hives. Experimental evidence indicates that propolis and its components have activity against bacteria, fungi, and viruses. Mechanisms of action on bacteria, fungi, and viruses are known for several propolis components. Experiments have shown that propolis may act synergistically with antibiotics, antifungals, and antivirus drugs, permitting the administration of lower doses of drugs and higher antimicrobial effects. The current trend of growing resistance of microbial pathogens to the available drugs has encouraged the introduction of propolis in therapy against infectious diseases. Because propolis composition is widely variable, standardized propolis extracts have been produced. Successful clinical trials have included propolis extracts as medicine in dentistry and as an adjuvant in the treatment of patients against COVID-19. Present world health conditions encourage initiatives toward the spread of the niche of propolis, not only as traditional and alternative medicine but also as a relevant protagonist in anti-infectious therapy. Production of propolis and other apiary products is environmentally friendly and may contribute to alleviating the current crisis of the decline of bee populations. Propolis production has had social-economic relevance in Brazil, providing benefits to underprivileged people.

Ethnobotany, phytochemistry, pharmacology, and toxicology of the genus Sambucus L. (Viburnaceae)

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

The genus Sambucus L. (Viburnaceae) consists of about 29 recognized species distributed in all regions of the world except the extremely cold and desert areas. Some species have been used as traditional medicines to treat various disorders such as bone fractures, rheumatism, diabetes, respiratory and pulmonary disorders, skin diseases, inflammatory ailments, diarrhea, and others. However, the currently available data on traditional and pharmacological uses have not been comprehensively reviewed.

STUDY AIM

The present review is designed to provide information on the ethnobotanical uses, phytochemistry, toxicity, and the known biological properties of Sambucus, to understand their connotations and provide a scientific basis and gaps for further research.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The information was obtained from different bibliographic databases, Google Scholar, Springer Link, Web of Science, PubMed, and Science Direct along with other literature sources such as dissertation before August 2021. The scientific names were validated using The Plant List and World Flora Online websites.

RESULTS

Twelve Sambucus species were found to be frequently mentioned in ethnomedical uses recorded in China, Korea, Turkey, Iran, and other countries. Traditionally, they have been used as remedies to numerous health complications among others, bone fractures and rheumatism, diabetes, wounds, inflammatory diseases, diarrhea, menstrual pains, respiratory and pulmonary complaints, skin disorders, headaches, snakebites, and urinary tract infections. To date, only eleven species have been studied for their chemical compounds and a total of 425 bioactive constituents, including phenolic compounds, terpenoids, fatty acids, cyanogenic glycosides, phytosterols, lectins, organic acids, alkaloid, coumarin, anthraquinone, and others have been reported. The crude extracts and the isolated chemical constituents exhibited diverse outstanding pharmacological activities including antioxidant, antimicrobial, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, antidepressant, analgesic, anti-giardial, immunomodulatory, scolicidal, anti-ulcerogenic, antiradical, bone-protective, anti-glycemic, antiosteoporotic, hypolipidemic, anti-glycation, and wound-healing properties.

CONCLUSION

This study summarized and scrutinized the data on traditional uses, pharmacological activities, phytochemicals, and toxicity of Sambucus species, which indicate they have interesting chemical compounds with diverse biological activities. Many traditional uses of some species from this genus have now been confirmed by pharmacological activities, such as antioxidant, antimicrobial, bone-protective, wound healing, anti-inflammatory, and analgesic properties. However, the currently available data has several gaps in understanding the traditional uses of all Sambucus species. Thus, we strongly recommend further investigations into the scientific connotations between traditional medicinal uses and pharmacological activities, mode of action of the isolated bioactive constituents, and toxicity of other Sambucus species to unravel their efficacy and therapeutic potential for safe clinical application. The current extensive study avails valuable information on therapeutic use of Sambucus species and paves way for further investigations of other useful species, as well as drug discovery.

From Traditional Ethnopharmacology to Modern Natural Drug Discovery: A Methodology Discussion and Specific Examples

Ethnopharmacology, through the description of the beneficial effects of plants, has provided an early framework for the therapeutic use of natural compounds. Natural products, either in their native form or after crude extraction of their active ingredients, have long been used by different populations and explored as invaluable sources for drug design. The transition from traditional ethnopharmacology to drug discovery has followed a straightforward path, assisted by the evolution of isolation and characterization methods, the increase in computational power, and the development of specific chemoinformatic methods. The deriving extensive exploitation of the natural product chemical space has led to the discovery of novel compounds with pharmaceutical properties, although this was not followed by an analogous increase in novel drugs. In this work, we discuss the evolution of ideas and methods, from traditional ethnopharmacology to in silico drug discovery, applied to natural products. We point out that, in the past, the starting point was the plant itself, identified by sustained ethnopharmacological research, with the active compound deriving after extensive analysis and testing. In contrast, in recent years, the active substance has been pinpointed by computational methods (in silico docking and molecular dynamics, network pharmacology), followed by the identification of the plant(s) containing the active ingredient, identified by existing or putative ethnopharmacological information. We further stress the potential pitfalls of recent in silico methods and discuss the absolute need for in vitro and in vivo validation as an absolute requirement. Finally, we present our contribution to natural products' drug discovery by discussing specific examples, applying the whole continuum of this rapidly evolving field. In detail, we report the isolation of novel antiviral compounds, based on natural products active against influenza and SARS-CoV-2 and novel substances active on a specific GPCR, OXER1.

Phytochemical profiling and anti-fibrotic activities of Plumbago indica L. and Plumbago auriculata Lam. in thioacetamide-induced liver fibrosis in rats

This study aimed at investigating the chemical composition and the hepatoprotective activities of Plumbago indica L. and P. auriculata Lam. LC-MS/MS analyses for the hydroalcoholic extracts of the aerial parts of the two Plumbago species allowed the tentative identification of thirty and twenty-five compounds from P. indica and P. auriculata, respectively. The biochemical and histopathological alterations associated with thioacetamide (TAA)-induced liver fibrosis in rats were evaluated in vivo where rats received the two extracts at three different dose levels (100, 200 and 400 mg/kg p.o, daily) for 15 consecutive days with induction of hepatotoxicity by TAA (200 mg/kg/day, i.p.) at 14th and 15th days. Results of the present study showed a significant restoration in liver function biomarkers viz. alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), gamma glutamyl transferase and total bilirubin. The liver homogenates exhibited increased levels of antioxidant biomarkers: reduced glutathione (GSH) and catalase (CAT), accompanied with decline in malondialdehyde (MDA). Furthermore, treated groups exhibited a significant suppression in liver inflammatory cytokines: tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interlukin-6 (IL-6), and fibrotic biomarker: alpha smooth muscle relaxant. Histopathological examination of the liver showed normality of hepatocytes. Noteworthy, P. indica extract showed better hepatoprotective activity than P. auriculata, particularly at 200 mg/kg. To sum up, all these results indicated the hepatoprotective properties of both extracts, as well as their antifibrotic effect was evidenced by reduction in hepatic collagen deposition. However, additional experiments are required to isolate their individual secondary metabolites, assess the toxicity of the extracts and explore the involved mechanism of action.

Xylosma G. Forst. Genus: Medicinal and Veterinary Use, Phytochemical Composition, and Biological Activity

Xylosma G. Forst. is a genus of plants belonging to the Salicaceae family with intertropical distribution in America, Asia, and Oceania. Of the 100 accepted species, 22 are under some level of conservation risk. In this review, around 13 species of the genus used as medicinal plants were found, mainly in Central and South America, with a variety of uses, among which antimicrobial is the most common. There is published research in chemistry and pharmacological activity on around 15 of the genus species, centering in their antibacterial and fungicidal activity. Additionally, a variety of active phytochemicals have been isolated, the most representative of which are atraric acid, xylosmine and its derivatives, and velutinic acid. There is still ample field for the validation and evaluation of the activity of Xylosma extracts, particularly in species not yet studied, and concerning uses other than antimicrobial and for the identification and evaluation of their active compounds.

Aloe vera and Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetes Mellitus

Diabetes mellitus is defined as prolonged hyperglycemia, which can harm the eyes, kidneys, and cardiovascular and neurological systems. Herbal agents and their derived supplements have been used for treatment of diabetes mellitus as a part of integrated complementary medicine for centuries. Numerous studies have considered Aloe vera (L.) Burm.f, Xanthorrhoeaceae, as an alternative medicine due to its abundant bioactive chemicals, such as alkaloids, anthraquinones, and enthrones, with therapeutical properties including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, neuro-protective, and anti-diabetic effects. Aloe vera has received considerable attention in traditional medicine for the treatment of several diseases including diabetes mellitus. Numerous studies have investigated the effects of herbal agents on diabetes mellitus using a streptozotocin-induced diabetic model. Thereby, this article reviews the effects of Aloe vera prescription on streptozotocin-induced diabetes mellitus to provide a clear insight into the role of this medicinal plant in several biological functions, such as antioxidant, wound healing, anti-inflammatory, anti-hyperglycemic, and anti-hyperlipidemic in diabetic models.

Reconstructing Neanderthal diet: The case for carbohydrates

Evidence for plants rarely survives on Paleolithic sites, while animal bones and biomolecular analyses suggest animal produce was important to hominin populations, leading to the perspective that Neanderthals had a very-high-protein diet. But although individual and short-term survival is possible on a relatively low-carbohydrate diet, populations are unlikely to have thrived and reproduced without plants and the carbohydrates they provide. Today, nutritional guidelines recommend that around half the diet should be carbohydrate, while low intake is considered to compromise physical performance and successful reproduction. This is likely to have been the same for Paleolithic populations, highlighting an anomaly in that the basic physiological recommendations do not match the extensive archaeological evidence. Neanderthals had large, energy-expensive brains and led physically active lifestyles, suggesting that for optimal health they would have required high amounts of carbohydrates. To address this anomaly, we begin by outlining the essential role of carbohydrates in the human reproduction cycle and the brain and the effects on physical performance. We then evaluate the evidence for resource availability and the archaeological evidence for Neanderthal diet and investigate three ways that the anomaly between the archaeological evidence and the hypothetical dietary requirements might be explained. First, Neanderthals may have had an as yet unidentified genetic adaptation to an alternative physiological method to spare blood glucose and glycogen reserves for essential purposes. Second, they may have existed on a less-than-optimum diet and survived rather than thrived. Third, the methods used in dietary reconstruction could mask a complex combination of dietary plant and animal proportions. We end by proposing that analyses of Paleolithic diet and subsistence strategies need to be grounded in the minimum recommendations throughout the life course and that this provides a context for interpretation of the archaeological evidence from the behavioral and environmental perspectives.

Structural Diversity and Biological Potential of Alkaloids from the Genus Hippeastrum, Amaryllidaceae: an Update

The subfamily Amaryllidoideae, Amaryllidaceae, presents an exclusive group of structures known as Amaryllidaceae alkaloids, which have a broad spectrum of biological activities. These plants are classified into 59 genera, including Hippeastrum Herb., which comprises approximately 60 species distributed mainly in South America, being widely used as ornamental plants due to the beauty of its flowers. This review presents an update about the alkaloid profiling of Hippeastrum extracts published between 2012 and 2021, as well as an approach to the biological potential of these compounds.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s43450-021-00211-z.

Biological Activity of Naturally Derived Naphthyridines

Marine and terrestrial environments are rich sources of various bioactive substances, which have been used by humans since prehistoric times. Nowadays, due to advances in chemical sciences, new substances are still discovered, and their chemical structures and biological properties are constantly explored. Drugs obtained from natural sources are used commonly in medicine, particularly in cancer and infectious diseases treatment. Naphthyridines, isolated mainly from marine organisms and terrestrial plants, represent prominent examples of naturally derived agents. They are a class of heterocyclic compounds containing a fused system of two pyridine rings, possessing six isomers depending on the nitrogen atom's location. In this review, biological activity of naphthyridines obtained from various natural sources was summarized. According to previous studies, the naphthyridine alkaloids displayed multiple activities, i.a., antiinfectious, anticancer, neurological, psychotropic, affecting cardiovascular system, and immune response. Their wide range of activity makes them a fascinating object of research with prospects for use in therapeutic purposes.