Department of Clinical Laboratory Science, College of Applied Medical Sciences-Qurayyat, Jouf University, Al-Qurayyat 77455, Saudi Arabia.
Molecules. 2023 Dec 12;28(24):8045. doi: 10.3390/molecules28248045.
Humans are constantly at high risk of emerging pandemics caused by viral and bacterial infections. The emergence of new pandemics is mainly caused by evolved viruses and bacteria that are highly resistant to existing medications. The rapid evolution of infectious agents demands the urgent investigation of new therapeutic strategies to prevent and treat these infections at an early stage. One of these therapeutic strategies includes the use of medicinal herbs for their antibacterial and antiviral properties. The use of herbal medicines as remedies is very ancient and has been employed for centuries. Many studies have confirmed the antimicrobial activities of herbs against various pathogens in vitro and in vivo. The therapeutic effect of medicinal herbs is mainly attributed to the natural bioactive molecules present in these plants such as alkaloids, flavonoids, and terpenoids. Different mechanisms have been proposed for how medicinal herbs enhance the immune system and combat pathogens. Such mechanisms include the disruption of bacterial cell membranes, suppression of protein synthesis, and limitation of pathogen replication through the inhibition of nucleic acid synthesis. Medicinal herbs have been shown to treat a number of infectious diseases by modulating the immune system's components. For instance, many medicinal herbs alleviate inflammation by reducing pro-inflammatory cytokines (e.g., tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-1, IL-6) while promoting the production of anti-inflammatory cytokines (e.g., IL-10). Medicinal herbs also play a role in defense against viral and intracellular infections by enhancing the proliferation and functions of natural killer cells, T-helper-1 cells, and macrophages. In this review, we will explore the use of the most common herbs in preventing and treating infectious and non-infectious diseases. Using current and recently published studies, we focus on the immunomodulatory and therapeutic effects induced by medicinal herbs to enhance immune responses during diseases.
人类一直面临着由病毒和细菌感染引起的新发传染病的高风险。新的传染病的出现主要是由于高度耐药的进化病毒和细菌引起的。感染性病原体的快速进化要求紧急调查新的治疗策略，以在早期预防和治疗这些感染。这些治疗策略之一包括利用草药的抗菌和抗病毒特性。草药作为药物的使用非常古老，已经使用了几个世纪。许多研究已经证实了草药对各种病原体的体外和体内的抗菌活性。草药的治疗效果主要归因于这些植物中存在的天然生物活性分子，如生物碱、黄酮类化合物和萜类化合物。已经提出了草药如何增强免疫系统和对抗病原体的不同机制。这些机制包括破坏细菌细胞膜、抑制蛋白质合成以及通过抑制核酸合成来限制病原体复制。草药通过调节免疫系统的成分已经被证明可以治疗许多传染病。例如，许多草药通过减少促炎细胞因子（例如肿瘤坏死因子-α（TNF-α）、白细胞介素-1、IL-6）同时促进抗炎细胞因子（例如白细胞介素-10）的产生来缓解炎症。草药还通过增强自然杀伤细胞、辅助性 T 细胞 1 和巨噬细胞的增殖和功能，在防御病毒和细胞内感染方面发挥作用。在这篇综述中，我们将探讨最常见的草药在预防和治疗感染性和非传染性疾病中的应用。我们使用当前和最近发表的研究，重点关注草药诱导的免疫调节和治疗作用，以增强疾病期间的免疫反应。
