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Cannabis sativa, widely known as ‘Marijuana’ poses a dilemma for being a blend of both good and bad medicinal effects. The historical use of Cannabis for both medicinal and recreational purposes suggests it to be a friendly plant. However, whether the misuse of Cannabis and the cannabinoids derived from it can hamper normal body physiology is a focus of ongoing research. On the one hand, there is enough evidence to suggest that misuse of marijuana can cause deleterious effects on various organs like the lungs, immune system, cardiovascular system, etc. and also influence fertility and cause teratogenic effects. However, on the other hand, marijuana has been found to offer a magical cure for anorexia, chronic pain, muscle spasticity, nausea, and disturbed sleep. Indeed, most recently, the United Nations has given its verdict in favour of Cannabis declaring it as a non-dangerous narcotic. This review provides insights into the various health effects of Cannabis and its specialized metabolites and indicates how wise steps can be taken to promote good use and prevent misuse of the metabolites derived from this plant.

Variations in topogeographical features causes immense miscellany of widely used medicinal plants (MPs) in Indian Himalayan Region (IHR), thus an ethnobotanical approach was adopted to file the undocumented indigenous wealth of the communities against different corporeal ailments. 370 households of 31 villages were surveyed during the summer seasons of 2015 and 2016 to explore the traditional folkloric practices of the inhabitants using a semi structured questionnaire. The data set was documented in Microsoft Office Excel and statistically analyzed for Use Value (UV), Informants' Consensus Factor (ICF), Fidelity Level (FL), Relative Importance (RI), Cultural Importance Index (CI), Index of Agreement on Remedies (IAR) and Cultural Agreement Index (CAI). The MPs were classified and analyzed for altitudinal distribution, nativity, endemism and threat categories. Total 292 MPs belonging to 95 families were reported to be used against major 15 types of substantial corporeal disorders. The richness of MPs decreased with an increasing altitude. Asteraceae (27 species) was found to be dominant family, followed by Rosaceae (17 species), Lamiaceae (16 species) and Ranunculaceae (15 species) used to cure such ailments. Five MPs were endemic to the IHR and 8 MPs were found to be critically endangered (CR) in the study region. Traditional healers had a detailed and wide range of folkloric therapeutic wisdom to treat different types of human diseases. Folkloric practice provides an alternative preference from conventional healthcare centers for the needy rural ethnic people of this distant area. But unfortunately rapid loss in biodiversity elements, urbanization and considerable anthropogenic stress causes significant decrease in the ethnic knowledge as well as the MPs. Thus, awareness among the people and proper conservation measures is readily needed.

The well-known medicinal plant Centella asiatica (L.) Urban is an Ayurvedic and traditional Chinese medicine used in the treatment of different health problems and as an edible vegetable in a regular diet. Ease of availability in the wide range of environmental conditions plus low-cost cultivation process has made the plant popular in ethno-medicinal healthcare systems. In the present review, phytochemical analysis of plant-extract and pharmacological activities of bioactive-compounds are discussed based upon the available reports to understand their therapeutic potentialities along with the mechanisms behind. The results exhibited that C. asiatica and its triterpenoids demonstrated an array of pharmacological effects and health benefits, some of which were confirmed in many preclinical and clinical studies. Those reports also provided considerable evidences in support of the principles of folk treatment in different countries. Increase and maintenance of the prospective plant secondary metabolites would provide an enriched resource of drug molecules. Development of suitable derivatives of the therapeutic compounds can give an assurance for getting more effective drug candidates with reduced side effects. The review also enumerates the application of advanced nanotechnology, toxicology, and clinical-trial reports on the plant with notes on the shortcomings in the present research and future perspectives of using this medicinal plant.

Memory, one of the most vital aspects of the human brain, is necessary for the effective survival of an individual. ‘Memory’ can be defined in various ways but in an overall view, memory is the retention of the information that the brain grasps. Different factors are responsible for the disbalance in the brain’s hippocampus region and the acetylcholine level, which masters the memory and cognitive functions. Plants are a source of pharmacologically potent drug molecules of high efficacy. Recently herbal medicine has evolved rapidly, gaining great acceptance worldwide due to their natural origin and fewer side effects. In this review, the authors have discussed the mechanisms and pharmacological action of herbal bioactive compounds to boost memory. Moreover, this review presents an update of different herbs and natural products that could act as memory enhancers and how they can be potentially utilized in the near future for the treatment of severe brain disorders. In addition, the authors also discuss the differences in biological activity of the same herb and emphasize the requirement for a higher standardization in cultivation methods and plant processing. The demand for further studies evaluating the interactions of herbal drugs is mentioned.

Medicinally important steroid-based compound diosgenin is usually obtained from the secondary metabolic products of several plant species. Diosgenin has been proven as a prospective bioactive drug lead to the pharmaceutical industries as having anti-cancer activity, anti-microbial activity, anti-thrombic activity, anti-diabetic activity, cardioprotective activity, anti-inflammatory activity, osteoarthritis protective activity etc. Observing the multiple therapeutic values of this compound, scientists and chemists have become interested to discover alternative sources. Endophytic microorganisms possess the potentials producing prospective secondary metabolites. Some diosgenin producing endophytic fungi and bacteria are detected and reported by authors. Extraction and quantification of the respective secondary metabolite in a proper way is required initially for its large scale production. Regular involvement of advance biotechnological approaches plus industrial fermentation technology along with proper funding following government policy is necessary for further progress in this field. Exploration of a higher number of diosgenin producing endophytic strains will definitely increase the supply for social requisition in a cost-effective and environment-friendly manner as limiting the excessive exploitation of plant sources.

Hemidesmus indicus (L.) R. Br. ex Schult., commonly known as Indian sarsaparilla or Anantamul, is an ethnopharmacologically important medicinal plant from the family Apocynaceae. Biosynthesis of an array of bioactive compounds such as methoxybenzaldehydes and their derivatives has been accountable for its intensive medicinal attributes. Low seed setting, over-exploitation from natural habitat and a need for selection and preservation of elite germplasms yielding higher levels of bioactive compounds have led researchers to enquire the standardization of micropropagation techniques and quantitative estimation of phytochemicals from H. indicus. The present work aims to have a comprehensive account on micropropagation in H. indicus, a comparative estimation of biotic and abiotic factors, viz. elicitors and precursors playing a crucial role in H. indicus tissue culture, a critical appraisal of applied protocols to nullify embellished claims and a discussion on future perspectives. The review also highlights the comparative effect of different plant growth regulators as well as their combined role in rhizogenesis, callogenesis, base callus formation, callusing and somatic embryo-mediated indirect organogenesis, outcome of explant selection, contribution of abiotic (temperature, photoperiod, moisture, inorganic molecules) factors, role of carbon source, application of sterilization techniques and associated success rates, role of factors essential for acclimatization and secondary metabolite production, synthetic seed production and genetic transformation techniques. The compiled information along with individual study details, respective outcome and variability of reports will aid in proper assessment of cited standardized tissue culture protocols in H. indicus especially in relation to secondary metabolite production. Moreover, the assessment of applicability of different methodologies in this aspect will aid in the selection of high-yielding germplasms or chemotypes which is not only profitable for industrial application but also important for basic and applied preclinical and clinical research studies. KEY POINTS: • Critical and updated assessment on in vitro biotechnology in Hemidesmus indicus. • Biotechnological advancement via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. • Key shortcomings and future research directions Graphical abstract Effect of biotic and abiotic factors on Micropropagation and secondary metabolite synthesis in Hemidesmus indicus.

Background The amphibian, non-vascular, gametophyte-dominant, bio-indicator class, bryophytes; with their wide ranges of habitat have attained importance due to their promising medicinal attributions and therapeutic role; mostly aided by presence of aromatic bibenzyl and bisbybenzyl class of compounds. Bibenzyls are steroidal ethane derivatives, resembling the structural moiety of bioactive dihydro-stilbenoids or iso-quinoline alkaloids. These stress triggered secondary metabolites are the by-products of the flavonoid biosynthetic pathway. Different classes of bryophytes (Bryophyta, Marchantiophyta and Anthocerotophyta) possess different subtypes of bibenzyls and dimeric bisbibenzyls. Among the liverwort, hornwort and mosses, former one is mostly enriched with bibenzyl type constituents as per the extensive study conducted for phytochemical deposit. Considering macrocyclic and acyclic group of bibenzyls and bisbybenzyls, generally marchantin type compounds are reported vividly for significant biological activity that includes neuro-nephro-cardio-protection besides anti-allergic, anti-microbial, anti-apoptotic and cytotoxic activities studied on in-vitro and in-vivo models or on cell lines. Result The critical analysis of reported chemical and pharmaceutical attributions of bibenzyls and bis-bibenzyls yielded detailed report on this compound class along with their application, mode of action, natural source, techniques of synthesis, extraction procedure, isolation and characterization. Further, the structure activity relationship studies and bioactivity of bibenzyls derived from non-bryophytic origin were also summarized. Conclusion This review encompasses prospective biological application of botanical reservoir of this primarily ignored, primeval land plant group where recent technical advances has paved the way for qualitative and quantitative isolation and estimation of novel compounds as well as marker components to study their impact on environment, as bio-control agents and as key leads in future drug designing. Graphical abstract

Purulia, the land of distinctive geological and archaeological features, abundant natural resources and a home to a number of aboriginals, has been studied widely to apprehend the role of ethnic remedies against myriad of diseases. Availability of natural remedies and practice of traditional knowledge have popularized the use of medicinal plants among local communities. The objective of the study is to elucidate the use of folk medicine against common otorhinolaryngologic and ophthalmic medical conditions, by various ethnic groups of Purulia district, West Bengal, India. A completely randomized ethnobotanical approach was carried out during a number of field visits conducted to interview 55 traditional healers (THs) residing across the 20 blocks of district Purulia via semi-structured open-ended questionnaire. The similarity of usage of plants for different diseases was calculated by the informant consensus factor (Fic), whereas fidelity level indicated the plants mostly cited by the informants. The correlative importance of the usage of the plants was measured by the use value (UV). A total number of 28 plant species belonging to 27 genera and 20 families are reported in this present study in the treatment of a number of otorhinolaryngologic and ophthalmic ailments such as cough and cold, eye diseases (sore eye, red eye, eye inflammation and conjunctivitis), ear diseases (earache and pus in ears), nosebleed and throat infection. The highest value for informant’s consensus factor (Fic) was observed in cough and cold (0.87) that indicates most of the plants possess analgesic and antipyretic potential, whereas the lowest value (0.33) was shown by sore eye that denotes least number of plants have been applied for eye cure. Mostly, leaf part (41.4%) is utilized to cure selected otorhinolaryngologic and ophthalmic disorders where most of the herbal formulations were applied as leaf juices (60.7%). Most significant plant species were Piper nigrum L., Ocimum sanctum L. and Zingiber officinale Roscoe according to their highest UV (1.80), followed by Andrographis paniculata (Burm. f.) Wall. ex Nees (1.79) and Justicia adhatoda L. (1.66). The present work represents first quantitative ethnobotanical study against some tropical otorhinolaryngologic and ophthalmic disorders in remote areas of Purulia district where acute poverty, underprivileged livelihood, illiteracy, unavailability of conventional health care as well as age-old trust on THs have popularized the use of natural resources (i.e. medicinal plants). Many of the reported ethnomedicinal properties of some plants have been backed up by clinical data also. Aboriginal people also showed keen interest and knowledge regarding conservation of endangered medicinal plants and on sustainable utilization of botanical resources. Proper documentation of traditional knowledge and potential preclinical and clinical studies based on the ethnobotanical data procured may be suggested for safe and efficacious use of herbal medicine against otorhinolaryngologic and ophthalmic disorders.

The rate of breast cancer has been rapidly increasing over the last few years. Extensive development of breast cancer treatment directed to the discovery of new anticancer drugs. These chemotherapeutic drugs are involved in the suppression of breast cancer, however, toxicity related to these drugs could not be ignored. Paclitaxel is considered as an important drug for breast cancer treatment. Paclitaxel has been utilized for breast cancer treatment as a single agent in first-line therapy, or in combination therapy with other drugs or agents or anti-HER2 antibody. Adjuvant and neoadjuvant clinical trials also displayed paclitaxel efficiency in different types of breast cancer. Apart from paclitaxel efficacy, as demonstrated in this chapter, paclitaxel treatment is also associated with toxicity and chemoresistance. Also, this chapter reviews the role of paclitaxel in the treatment of different types of breast cancer based on clinical trial studies and paclitaxel related toxicities and chemoresistance.

Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal (Solanaceae) has been used as a traditional Rasayana herb for a long time. Traditional uses of this plant indicate its ameliorative properties against a plethora of human medical conditions, viz. hypertension, stress, diabetes, asthma, cancer etc. This review presents a comprehensive summary of the geographical distribution, traditional use, phytochemistry, and pharmacological activities of W. somnifera and its active constituents. In addition, it presents a detailed account of its presence as an active constituent in many commercial preparations with curative properties and health benefits. Clinical studies and toxicological considerations of its extracts and constituents are also elucidated. Comparative analysis of relevant in-vitro, in-vivo, and clinical investigations indicated potent bioactivity of W. somnifera extracts and phytochemicals as anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, apoptotic, immunomodulatory, antimicrobial, anti-diabetic, hepatoprotective, hypoglycaemic, hypolipidemic, cardio-protective and spermatogenic agents. W. somnifera was found to be especially active against many neurological and psychological conditions like Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s disease, ischemic stroke, sleep deprivation, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, bipolar disorder, anxiety, depression, schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder. The probable mechanism of action that imparts the pharmacological potential has also been explored. However, in-depth studies are needed on the clinical use of W. somnifera against human diseases. Besides, detailed toxicological analysis is also to be performed for its safe and efficacious use in preclinical and clinical studies and as a health-promoting herb.

From ancient history, complementary and alternative medicines have played a significant role as holistic therapeutic treatments of various human diseases including cancer, diabetes, neurological diseases, and skin problems. One Indian medicinal plant (herb), Bacopa monnieri has been used in many parts of the world as such medicine, particularly for the treatment of various neurological disorders. It is well known as a potent "tonic for the human brain," which serves as a memory enhancer. Multiple studies proved that this herb contains a plethora of potential bioactive, phytochemical compounds with synergistic properties. The main purpose of the present review is to shed light on the use of Bacopa monnieri and its active principles (bacosides) in the management of neurological disorders. Furthermore, the signaling pathways modulated by bacosides have been critically discussed in this review. Moreover, we have critically summarized the present knowledge of this perennial creeping herb based upon the literature mining from different scientific engines.

Sex hormones have been found to play an intimate role with some of the cancers such as the breast-cancer, prostate-cancer, uterine-cancer, etc. The relation between the estrogen and breast-cancer h...

Asthma is the most prevailing chronic inflammatory medical condition which is the outcome of extensive air pollution and which is associated with hyper-responsiveness of the respiratory system. Asthma causes excessive mucus production, blockage of air-passage, triggers inflammatory allergic responses, chronic lung infection, lifelong breathing troubles, and prolonged hospitalization in worst cases. Plant derived pollens may trigger asthmatic responses but on the other hand a number of medicinal plants and phytochemicals have been reported to ameliorate the symptoms associated with asthma. According to ethnomedicinal reports inhalation of certain kinds of herbs and administration of certain plant products could alleviate breathing and respiratory complexities. A number of animal model based studies have highlighted the role of plant extracts (PEs) and plant derived phytochemicals could alter the inflammatory responses by modulating the production of immunoglobulin E (IgE) and pro-inflammatory cytokine based immune signals. They could also suppress the accumulation of inflammatory cells which may lead to “hyper-drive” stage in respiratory system. Detailed analysis have highlighted the effective role of plant extracts and secondary metabolites modulating the release of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 13, IFN-γ, and other messenger molecules. Along with the experimental details and possible molecular mechanisms of the anti-asthmatic botanicals, this review also highlights constraints in medicinal plant oriented anti-asthmatic research, protocol based lacunae, details of toxicity and quality control studies and tries to link the traditional knowledge with laboratory-based findings.

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Traditional knowledge is a particular form of practice or skill set that was developed in ancient times and was sustained through generations via the passing of knowledge, essentially confined within a specific tribe, local people, or family lineages. Ethnodermatological use of medicinal plants in India is still a subject to conduct more studies to see if there is chemical, microbiological, and/or clinical evidence, from a scientific perspective, of their effectiveness for those skin disorders. Thus, this review can be the basis for further studies and may provide targets for drug development. Aim of the study: We compile and emphasize the most important part of ethnodermatology, namely, traditional knowledge of medicinal plants and their applications for several skin diseases in India. We also include a brief review and explanation on dermatology in Ayurvedic and Unani medicine. We review the pharmacological activity of extracts derived from some of the most cited plants against problem skin diseases as well. Materials and methods: Different kinds of key phrases such as “Indian traditional ethnodermatology”, “ethnodermatology”, “ethnobotany”, “skin diseases”, “Ayurveda dermatology”, “pharmacological activity” were searched in online search servers/databases such as Google Scholar (https://scholar.google.com/), ResearchGate (https://www.researchgate.net/), PubMed (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/), NISCAIR Online Periodicals Repository (NOPR) (http://nopr.niscair.res.in/). Based upon the analyses of data obtained from 178 articles, we formulated several important findings which are a summary shown in Tables. Tables. A total of 119 records of plants’ uses have been found across India against 39 skin diseases. These are depicted with their localities of report, parts used, and preparation and administration methods against particular skin diseases. Results: The knowledge and utilisation of herbal medicine in the Indian subcontinent has great potential to treat different kinds of human skin disorders. The administration of extracts from most of the plant species used is topical and few only are administrated orally. We also investigated the pharmacological activity of the extracts of the most cited plants against mice, bacterial and fungal pathogens, and human cells. Conclusions: Complementary therapy for dermatological problems and treatment remains the main option for millions of people in the Indian subcontinent. This review on the practices of ethnobotanical dermatology in India confirms the belief that their analysis will accelerate the discovery of new, effective therapeutic agents for skin diseases. However, more studies and clinical evidence are still required to determine if the identified species may contribute to skin condition treatment, particularly in atopic eczema. Today, ethnodermatology is a well-accepted international discipline and many new practices have been initiated in numerous countries. We hope this article will further accelerate the development of this area to identify a new generation of natural human skin treatments that will help meet the growing consumer demand for safe, sustainable, and natural treatments. In this context, research on plants utilised in ethnodermatology in India and elsewhere should be intensified.

About one third of the world's population is affected by insomnia. Insomnia may be due to various reasons such as physiological, psychological, genetic etc. It affects the health as well as the pro...

Stroke is known to be a major cause of mortality across the world. One of its type, cerebral ischemia (CI), caused due to reduction of blood flow to the brain, is being studied extensively nowadays in the field of herbal drug discovery in order to minimize the side effects of conventional medication and thereby eliminate the limitations of pharmacological treatment. This review on anti-cerebral ischemia therapeutics from nature uses electronic search engines such as Pubmed, Google Scholar, Science Direct, Springer, Jstor etc. with appropriate search strings. The World Health Organization (WHO) places the global occurrence of cerebral ischemia at around 200 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, although the data varies among countries. Prevalent treatment includes drugs of thrombolytic, neuroprotective, anti-coagulatory, anti-platelet and vasodilatory nature. Side effects of these drugs have led to the discovery of herbal treatment which includes anti ischemic plant derived phytochemicals, plant crude ext...

Ethnopharmacological relevance Hemidesmus indicus (L.) R. Br. ex Schult. (Apocynaceae) is widely used in traditional medicine in the different parts of the Indian subcontinent due to the various biological activities attributed to its different parts, especially the roots. It has traditionally been used for treating snakebites, scorpion stings, diabetes, urinary diseases, dyspnea, menorrhagia, oligospermia, anorexia, fever, abdominal colic and pain, dysentery, diarrhea, cough, rheumatism, pain including headache, inflammation, pyrosis, skin diseases, leprosy, sexually transmitted diseases and cancer. In Ayurveda, the plant is used in the treatment of bone-loss, low body weight, and fever, stress, topical wound and psoriasis. Besides, Ayurvedic literature also depicts its use as anti-atherogenic, anti-spasmodic, memory enhancing, immunopotentiating and anti-inflammatory agents. Aim of the study In this review, we aim to present a comprehensive update on the ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry, specific pharmacology, and toxicology of H. indicus and its bioactive metabolites. Possible directions for future research are also outlined in brief. Materials and methods Popular and widely used international databases such as PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, Google Scholar and JSTOR were searched and traditional literature were consulted using the various search strings to retrieve a number of citations related to the ethnopharmacology, biological activity, toxicology, quality control and phytochemistry of H. indicus. All studies on the ethnobotany, phtochemistry, pharmacology, and toxicology of the plant up to May, 2019 were included in this review. Results H. indicus has played an important role in traditional Indian medicine (including Ayurveda) and also in European medicine. The main pharmacological properties of H. indicus include hepatoprotective, anti-cancer, anti-diabetic, antioxidant, neuroprotective, anti-ophidian, cardioprotective, nephroprotective, anti-ulcerogenic, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial properties. Phytochemical evaluations of the roots have revealed the presence of aromatic aldehydes and their derivatives, phenolics, triterpenoids and many other compounds, some of which were attributed to its bioactivity. This review also compiles a list of Ayurvedic formulations and commercial preparations where H. indicus has been used as an active ingredient. We have included the critical assessment of all the papers cited in this manuscript based on experimental observation and other important points which reflects the loop-holes of research strategy and ambiguity of the papers reviewed in this manuscript. Conclusions The study presents an exhaustive and updated review on the traditional, pharmacological and phytochemical aspects of H. indicus with notes on its quality control and toxicological information. Although the crude extracts of H. indicus exhibit an array of pharmacological activities, it is high time to identify more active phyto-constituents by bioactivity-guided isolation besides elucidating their structure-activity relationship. More designed investigations are needed to comprehend the multi-target network pharmacology, to clarify the molecular mode of action and to ascertain the efficacious doses of H. indicus. Moreover, H. indicus is not fully assessed on the basis of its safety and efficacy on human. We hope this review will compile and improve the existing knowledge on the potential utilization of H. indicus in complementary and alternative medicine.