Background and objectives: Coronary stenosis is responsible for angina attacks in coronary heart disease (CHD). A prospective pilot study was conducted to investigate the effects of combining remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) with Radix salviae decoction (RSD).
Methods: A total of 60 patients diagnosed with CHD were enrolled and divided into the control group and the RIPC-RSD treatment group. The primary outcome was the frequency of angina attacks, while the secondary outcomes included Canadian Cardiovascular Society levels, emergency medications, and prognosis indicators.
Results: A total of 57 patients were included in the final analysis. Demographic characteristics and vessel stenosis comparisons showed similar results (p > 0.05). There was no significant difference in the frequency of angina attacks before (χ2 = 2.170, p = 0.404) or after (χ2 = 1.509, p = 0.662) treatment. Similarly, there was no significant difference in CCS levels of angina attacks between the two groups before (χ2 = 1.504, p = 0.681) or after (χ2 = 1.392, p = 0.707) treatment. Although there was no significant difference in the use of emergency medications for angina attacks before (χ2 = 1.321, p = 0.517) or after (χ2 = 2.457, p = 0.356) treatment, a significant decrease in the frequency of emergency medications was observed (Z = −2.188, p = 0.029). However, the RIPC-RSD treatment did not have a significant impact on the prognosis (cardiac death, χ2 = 1.831, p = 0.176; target vessel revascularization, χ2 = 1.111, p = 0.292; rehospitalization, χ2 = 0.495, p = 0.482) of coronary stenosis in CHD patients.
Conclusions: Due to the limitations of a relatively small sample size, this prospective pilot study did not observe a significant effect of RIPC-RSD on angina attacks and prognosis in CHD patients, but it implied potential efficacy in reducing the frequency of emergency medications.
Nowadays, Ephedra species have been marked as encouraging natural material for research in the field of pharmacology. This work provides an overview of the botanical, traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacological properties, molecular mechanisms, and toxicity of Ephedra alata. The following databases were utilized to search for primary literature references: PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Scientific Information Database, Science Direct, Google, and Google Scholar. The present review demonstrates that various compounds have been extracted from E. alata, such as fatty acids, sphingolipids, volatile compounds, reducing sugars, flavonoids, phenolic compounds, and alkaloids. These natural compounds show valuable biological activities, such as antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antidiabetic, antihypertensive, anti-obesity, nephroprotective, hepatoprotective, antipyretic, analgesic, anti-acetylcholinesterase, antityrosinase, and anti-urease activities. Several mechanisms are proposed to understand the biological effects of E. alata. In summary, E. alata constitutes good natural material for utilization in food and medicine applications.
Mitochondria are the main cell organelles responsible for adenosine triphosphate production through cellular respiration. They also have roles in regulating other cellular processes, including reactive oxygen species, apoptosis, and others. The function and number of mitochondria are important for the maintenance of bone homeostasis. In recent years, the regulation of bone homeostasis by mitochondria has attracted particular interest. In addition, some natural compounds have been demonstrated to modulate mitochondria functions, such as resveratrol, quercetin, and curcumin, etc. Here, we review the recent discoveries concerning mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation and bone formation, as well as the effects of some natural compounds (resveratrol, quercetin, and curcumin) on oxidative phosphorylation, and discuss their therapeutic implications in treating bone disorders.
fatigue is a common symptom in patients with malignant tumors, which seriously affects patient quality of life and even the progress of treatment. There have been numerous studies on various aspects of cancer-related fatigue. This review summarizes and analyzes its pathogenesis, screening, evaluation, and treatment from the perspectives of modern medicine and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Modern medicine believes that the pathogenesis of cancer-related fatigue is still unclear. Screening assessment scales are varied and have different focuses, so they should be selected and used comprehensively. Drug intervention for cancer-related fatigue has safety problems and is not recommended for conventional treatment. Non-drug treatment methods such as exercise, psychological intervention, diet guidance, and light therapy have good efficacy and high safety and are worthy of clinical promotion. In TCM, cancer fatigue is included as a deficiency. The syndrome of TCM is divided into two categories: deficiency syndrome and syndrome of intermingled deficiency and excess, involving the three viscera, the liver, spleen, and kidney that are closely related to the pathological products of blood stasis, toxin, phlegm, and dampness. The TCM diagnosis and evaluation scale is still in its infancy, which objectively quantifies TCM syndromes, forms a unified diagnostic standard for TCM syndrome differentiation, and standardizes TCM syndrome differentiation and treatment. The elements of syndromes open the idea of constructing a TCM scale. TCM offers various treatment and nursing methods that have high efficacy and safety. TCM, acupuncture, moxibustion, and traditional exercises are the main methods, but high-quality evidence is needed. In the future, the advantages of the combination of TCM and Western medicine should be used to overcome cancer-related fatigue.
The highly valued area of traditional medicine includes medicinal plants and the chemical compounds found in them that have therapeutic potential as effective remedies for a variety of health issues. However, with respect to their active compounds and therapeutic value, many medicinal plants from various environments fall under the category of being underexplored. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), was initially presented in November 2019. It was eventually labeled a pandemic, with an alarming number of deaths (6.987 million) and is still active. Alternative therapies are receiving more attention as a means of improving immunity and managing symptoms over the long term, despite the well-established scientific community’s quick success in implementing COVID-19 vaccinations. As an alternative strategy for COVID-19 management, traditional medicine therapies that comprise medicinal plants and extracts, formulations, and bioactive metabolites are currently receiving much interest. The usefulness of these herbal medicine interventions to manage COVID-19 infection has been the subject of recent studies, which are discussed here. In conclusion, we propose using plant extracts and their formulations as an alternative approach to treat COVID-19. This review may also instigate the development of anti-SARS-CoV-2 prophylactics from the active phytochemicals of these extracts.
Background and objectives: Tuberculosis remains a global health concern, and its treatment usually involves potent first-line antitubercular drugs which are tempered by the risk of associated hepatotoxicity leading to noncompliance and drug resistance. In this review, medicinal plants with the potential of protection against antitubercular drug-induced hepatotoxicity in animal models were explored from scientific literatures.
Methods: From literature published between 1999 and 2022, this review systematically extracted 68 studies that reported on medicinal plants with protection against antitubercular drug-induced liver toxicity in animal models.
Results: Isoniazid, pyrazinamide, rifampicin, and etambutol were the first-line drugs reported in the reviewed studies. The liver enzymes, antioxidant status, inflammatory markers, and improvement in the liver architecture were the criteria most frequently used by the reported studies to access hepatoprotection. These plants are rich in bioactive phytochemicals which exhibit their hepatoprotective properties via mechanisms such as antioxidant activity, anti-inflammatory effects, and detoxification enhancement.
Conclusions: This review provides the hepatoprotective properties and mode of action of medicinal plants and encourages future perspectives marked by rigorous scientific research, clinical trials, and integrative medicine approaches. Albeit the challenges of standardization of herbal formulation, safety concerns and hurdles of the regulatory framework must be addressed as traditional medicinal plants offer a promise to mitigate antitubercular drug hepatotoxicity.