Nitrobenzene-induced hormonal disruption, alteration of steroidogenic pathway, and oxidative damage in rat: protective effects of Vernonia amygdalina

Bitter Leaf (Vernonia Amygdalina) Modulates Nitrobenzene-Induced Renal Damage in Rats Via Suppression of Oxido-Inflammatory Activities

Renal diseases have been documented as one of the massive health challenges, ranked as the 12th most common cause of death globally. This study was carried out to assess the chemopreventive effects of Vernonia amydalina on nitrobenzene mediated renal damage in rats. Rats were exposed to 100 mg/kg body weight of nitrobenzene via oral administration and treated with 200 mg/kg body weight (BW) and 400 mg/kg BW of methanol leaf extract of Vernonia amydalina (MLVA) and Vitamin E for 14 consecutive days. Nitrobenzene significantly induced a renal injury with a significant increase in the serum levels of urea and creatinine with the concomitant altered serum electrolyte profile. Also, nitrobenzene mediated the oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation with a significant increase in the renal level of malondialdehyde (MDA), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), with a concomitant decrease in the level of reduced glutathione (GSH), Catalase (CAT) and Superoxide dismutase (SOD). Furthermore, an inflammation was observed in the nitrobenzene-treated rats with the elevated level of nitric oxide (NO) and myeloperoxidase (MPO). However, the treatment with methanol leaf extract of Vernonia amydalina reversed all the nitrobenzene-associated renal damage, electrolyte imbalance, oxidative stress, lipid peroxidation, inflammation and altered antioxidant defence system. Taken together, methanol leaf extract of Vernonia amydalina offers protection which may be beneficial for the treatment and management of kidney diseases or other related disorders via enhancing the serum electrolyte homeostasis, protecting the structural integrity of the kidney, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory mechanisms.

Telfairia occidentalis mitigates dextran sodium sulfate-induced ulcerative colitis in rats via suppression of oxidative stress, lipid peroxidation, and inflammation

Ulcerative colitis (UC), a subcategory of inflammatory bowel diseases, affects more than 2 million people globally. This study sought to investigate the curative ability of aqueous leaf extract of Telfairia occidentalis (ATO) on dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-mediated colitis in rats. UC was induced by 5% of DSS in drinking water, and the curative ability of ATO was assessed at 200 mg/kg by oral administration for 10 days. The effect of ATO was deduced on anti-inflammatory, preclinical features [disease activity index (DAI)], redox assays, and alterations both microscopic and macroscopic of the colonic mucosa. DSS mediated inflammation in colons of rats with a significant increase in nitric oxide, myeloperoxidase, IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α levels compared with a control group. Lipid peroxidation was also induced following exposure of rats to DSS. There is a marked decrease in antioxidant enzymes activities in DSS group. However, treatment with ATO markedly inhibited the colonic inflammation by reversing the elevated levels of inflammatory markers. Furthermore, ATO suppressed the lipid peroxidation chain reaction by reducing the level of malondialdehyde and hydrogen peroxide. ATO attenuates DSS-induced oxidative stress by increase the level of GSH and enhancing the activities of the cytoprotective enzymes (catalase, glutathione-S-transferase, and superoxide dismutase). Taken together, ATO reduced DAI score, inhibited inflammation, suppressed lipid peroxidation, attenuated oxidative stress, and enhanced the antioxidant enzymes activities. These therapeutic effects of ATO might be due to its phytochemicals as showed in gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy results. The findings of this study indicate that aqueous leaf extract of T. occidentalis has could be a drug candidate for the treatment of UC. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: The study focused on the curative ability of aqueous leaf extract of Telfairia occidentalis on dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) mediated colitis in rats. The extract elicits beneficial effects against colitis via its ability to reduce mucosal inflammation, suppress lipid peroxidation, attenuate oxidative stress, enhance the antioxidant enzymes activities, and reduce both infiltration of inflammatory cells and mucosal damage in colon. This study provides scientific evidence to the therapeutic ability of aqueous leaf extract of T. occidentalis in the treatment of DSS-induced ulcerative colitis and could be a drug candidate for the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases in humans.

Covid-19 treatment: Investigation on the phytochemical constituents of Vernonia amygdalina as potential Coronavirus-2 inhibitors

The upsurge in the current cases of COVID-19 poses a major threat on human health and population all over the globe. The emergence of new infectious diseases and increase in frequency of drug resistant viruses demand effective and novel therapeutic agents. In this study, we used bioinformatics approach to investigate the possible inhibitory potentials of phytochemical constituents of Vernonia amygdalina towards coronavirus-2 major protease. Pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics and toxicological profiles of the compounds were also examined using the pkCSM server. All the phytochemicals showed good binding affinity to the binding pocket of PDB ID 6LU7. It was observed that veronicoside A exhibited the highest binding affinity when compared to remdesivir, hydroxy-vernolide, vernodalin, vernodalol, and vernolide. The amino acids LEU272, LEU287, GLY275, TYR237, LYS236, THR198, THR199, ARG131, and LYS5 were showed as the key residues for veronicoside A binding to human SARS-COV2 major protease. The Pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics results suggested that all the tested phytochemicals have significant drug likeness properties and they could be absorbed through the human intestine. Furthermore, all the tested phytochemicals are not hepatoxic and also exhibited non or relatively low toxic effects in human. Taken together, the results of this study indicated that all the tested phytochemicals are potential putative inhibitors of SARS-COV2 major protease with non or low toxicity effects. However, further experimental and clinical studies are needed to further explore their activities and validate their efficacies against COVID-19.

Possible health benefits of polyphenols in neurological disorders associated with COVID-19

Novel Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) represents an emergent global health burden that has challenged the health systems worldwide. Since its sudden upsurge in 2019, many COVID-19 patients have exhibited neurological symptoms and complications. Till now, there is no known effective established drug against the highly contagious COVID-19 infection despite the frightening associated mortality rate. This article aims to present the mechanism of action of coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), the clinical neurological manifestations displayed by COVID-19 patients, and present polyphenols with neuroprotective ability that can offer beneficial effects against COVID-19-mediated neuropathology. Reports from COVID-19 clinical studies, case reports, and other related literature were evaluated for this review. Neurological complications of COVID-19 include anosmia, acute cerebrovascular disease, acute disseminated post-infectious encephalomyelitis, encephalitis, etc. Also, SARS-CoV-2 sould be a neurotropic vіruѕ due to its iѕolatіon from serebroѕrіnal fluіd. Multіrle neurologіsal damages displayed by COVID-19 patients might be due to hyperinflammation associated with SARS-CoV-2 infections. Resveratrol, kolaviron, quercetin and apigenin are polyphenols with proven anti-inflammatory and therapeutic properties that can extenuate the adverse effects of COVID-19. These polyphenols have been documented to suppress c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI3-K), extrasellularѕіgnal-regulated kinase (ERK), nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B-cells (NF-kB) and mіtogen-astіvated protein kіnaѕe (MAPK) pathways which are essential in the pathogenesis of COVID-19. They also showed significant inhibitory activities against SARS-CoV-2 proteins. Taken together, these polyphenols may offer neuroprotective benefits against COVID-19 mediated neuropathology via modulation of the pathogenic pathways.

A systematic review on COVID-19 pandemic with special emphasis on curative potentials of Nigeria based medicinal plants

Despite the frightening mortality rate associated with COVID-19, there is no known approved drug to effectively combat the pandemic. COVID-19 clinical manifestations include fever, fatigue, cough, shortness of breath, and other complications. At present, there is no known effective treatment or vaccine that can mitigate/inhibit SARS-CoV-2. Available clinical intervention for COVID-19 is only palliative and limited to support. Thus, there is an exigent need for effective and non-invasive treatment. This article evaluates the possible mechanism of actions of SARS-CoV-2 and present Nigeria based medicinal plants which have pharmacological and biological activities that can mitigate the hallmarks of the pathogenesis of COVID-19. SARS-CoV-2 mode of actions includes hyper-inflammation characterized by a severe and fatal hyper-cytokinaemia with multi-organ failure; immunosuppression; reduction of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) to enhance pulmonary vascular permeability causing damage to the alveoli; and further activated by open reading frame (ORF)3a, ORF3b, and ORF7a via c-Jun N- terminal kinase (JNK) pathway which induces lung damage. These mechanisms of action of SARS-CoV-2 can be mitigated by a combination therapy of medicinal herbs based on their pharmacological activities. Since the clinical manifestations of COVID-19 are multifactorial with co-morbidities, we strongly recommend the use of combined therapy such that two or more herbs with specific therapeutic actions are administered to combat the mediators of the disease.