Abstract
The aim of our review is to demonstrate the potential of herbal preparations, specifically adaptogens for prevention and treatment of respiratory infections, as well as convalescence, specifically through supporting a challenged immune system, increasing resistance to viral infection, inhibiting severe inflammatory progression, and driving effective recovery. The evidence from pre-clinical and clinical studies with Andrographis paniculata, Eleutherococcus senticosus, Glycyrrhiza spp., Panax spp., Rhodiola rosea, Schisandra chinensis, Withania somnifera, their combination products and melatonin suggests that adaptogens can be useful in prophylaxis and treatment of viral infections at all stages of progression of inflammation as well as in aiding recovery of the organism by (i) modulating innate and adaptive immunity, (ii) anti-inflammatory activity, (iii) detoxification and repair of oxidative stress-induced damage in compromised cells, (iv) direct antiviral effects of inhibiting viral docking or replication, and (v) improving quality of life during convalescence.
Highlights
IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic brought new challenges to biomedical sciences, the development of effective therapeutics for prevention and treatment of acute viral and stress-induced diseases
The COVID-19 pandemic brought new challenges to biomedical sciences, the development of effective therapeutics for prevention and treatment of acute viral and stress-induced diseases.the potential of herbal preparations in prevention and treatment of viral infections is underestimated
The COVID-19 pandemic, for which to date no cure or vaccine exist, provides a more than timely context in terms of findings related to epidemiology and pathogenesis in which to discuss relevant evidence from pre-clinical and clinical studies of herbal preparations, adaptogens
Summary
The COVID-19 pandemic brought new challenges to biomedical sciences, the development of effective therapeutics for prevention and treatment of acute viral and stress-induced diseases. The potential of herbal preparations in prevention and treatment of viral infections is underestimated. Lack of solid evidence for efficacy and safety from randomized, controlled clinical studies is often cited as a reason for dismissal. The COVID-19 pandemic, for which to date no cure or vaccine exist, provides a more than timely context in terms of findings related to epidemiology and pathogenesis in which to discuss relevant evidence from pre-clinical and clinical studies of herbal preparations, adaptogens. Pathogenesis and progression of a viral infection is a multistep process [1,2], which requires an appropriate therapeutic strategy starting with initiation of overall defense response to the pathogen [3–6]
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