A study recently reported that components of Neem tree bark might target a great range of viral proteins suggesting its potential as an antiviral agent against occurring strains of coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2.
According to the new research led by the scientists at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata, extract from the bark of the Neem tree may help with the treatment and reduction of the spread of COVID-19, according to a EurekAlert! report.
Native to India, the Neem tree has been used for thousands of years because of its anti-parasitic, anti-bacterial, and anti-bacterial properties.
The researchers found that the bark extract has helped treat malaria, intestinal and stomach ulcers, skin diseases, and many other illnesses.
Neem-Based Medication
According to Maria Nagel, MD, research professor in the department of neurology and ophthalmology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine on the CU Anschutz Medical Campus, the goal of the study is to develop a "Neem-based medication" that can lessen the risk of severe illness when an individual is infected with coronaviruses.
Study co-author Nagel hoped that scientists wouldn't need to continuously develop new treatments each time a new COVID-19 variant occurs.
She also said that just like how they take penicillin for strep throat, they envision taking the Neem-based drug for COVID-19, "allowing us to resume our normal lives" minus the fear of hospital admissions and death.
In their study published in the Virology Journal, researchers examined the effect of the bark extract against coronaviruses in their laboratories. In India, scientists tested it in animal models and found out that they exhibited antiviral properties against coronavirus.
'Antiviral' Neem Bark Extract
Using computer modeling, the study authors forecasted that Neem bark extract would bind to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in different locations, preventing entry of the virus to host cells.
Nagel's lab tested the Neem bark extract at CU Anschutz in SARS-CoV-2 human lung cells. It proved as efficient as preventing a medication for infection and decreased virus duplication and spread following the infection.
The professor and co-author also said the next step in their study is determining the specific components in Neem bark extract "that are antiviral."
Since such components bind to various regions of SARS-CoV-2, researchers of this new study believe that it will be effective on occurring variants that have spike mutations. Nagel said they would determine the formulation of dosage for antiviral drugs to treat coronavirus infections.
The researchers said this study could guide new antiviral therapeutic initiatives to fight the ongoing pandemic while holding out the promise to treat new strains of coronaviruses.
Pancreatic Cancer Treatment
In 2016, Medical Xpress mentioned a study published in the Scientific Reports journal that discovered how a natural extract derived from the Neem tree could potentially treat pancreatic cancer.
The report also specified that biomedical scientists at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso tested a compound called "nimbolide" found in neem leaves against pancreatic cancer in mice and cell lines.
Results showed that nimbolide could prevent the growth and metastasis of pancreatic cancer minus harming healthy and normal cells.
According to Rajkumar Lakshmanaswamy, Ph.D., an associate professor in TTUHSC El Paso's Center of Emphasis in Cancer, the promise nimbolide has exhibited "is amazing," and the treatment's specificity towards cancer cells over normal cells is very intriguing.
Related information about the benefits of Neem leaves, twigs, and barks is shown on Made In Mysore's YouTube video below:
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