Objectives The current pandemic caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona-Virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has become a global health menace with significant morbidity and mortality besides huge socioeconomic implications. Despite the approval of few vaccines for the prevention of the disease, the discovery of safe and effective countermeasures especially from natural sources is of paramount importance, as the number of cases continues escalating. Arq Ajīb has long been used for various diseases and its ingredients have been reported for antiviral, antimicrobial, antipyretic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant activities. The present study investigates the inhibitory effect of phytocompound of Arq Ajīb on potential drug targets of SARS-CoV-2. Methods The structures of phytocompounds present in Arq Ajīb were retrieved from PubChem database and some were illustrated using Marvin Sketch. SARS-CoV-2 S glycoprotein (PDB ID: 6LZG) and 3CLpro (PDB ID: 7BQY) were selected as the target protein. Dock Prep module in UCSF Chimera software was used for receptor structure processing. AutoDock Vina was used to calculate the binding affinities between the protein and ligands and to predict most promising compounds with best scores. Results Molecular docking results predicted that the phytocompounds of Arq Ajīb had good binding affinity and interaction with S glycoprotein and 3CLpro. Quercetin and Isorhoifolin from Mentha arvensis were identified as promising candidates with the potential to interact with 3CLpro and spike glycoprotein and inhibit the viral replication and its entry into the host. Conclusions Arq Ajīb may prove valuable for developing novel therapeutic candidate for COVID-19; however, it has to be substantiated further with in-vitro and in-vivo studies.

Emergence of antimicrobial resistance, with practically all newly developed and even more potent antibiotics like carbapenem and colistin, has become a matter of great public health concern. A number of common diseases of public health importance are becoming harder and sometimes impossible to treat due to increased resistance of pathogens. These alarming threats seek prime attention of scientific community to develop newer antibiotics with long-lasting efficacy, least side effects, and low economic burden. Unani classical texts have enormous citations on different infectious diseases. Many single drugs and compound formulations are in vogue since ages for the treatment of infectious diseases. Use of Afaviya (spices), Mufarrehat (exhilarants), Tiryaqi Advia (drugs with antidote properties) and Sirka (vinegar) is highly advocated in treating various infectious diseases. Though, enormous research activities have been undertaken worldwide to explore and develop newer antibiotics from natural resources, indicating massive magnitude of natural products in treating various infectious diseases, however, the higher plants, still largely seems to be unexplored. Moreover, elaborated and well controlled clinical studies are still lacking to authenticate their clinical significance. Hence, a rigorous, well-designed & well-structured research is highly paramount to ascertain the provision of newer, relatively safe and cost effective natural antibiotics.

COVID-19 was originated in Wuhan, China, in December 2019 and has been declared a pandemic disease by WHO. The number of infected cases continues unabated and so far, no specific drug approved for targeted therapy. Hence, there is a need for drug discovery from traditional medicine. Tiryaq-e-Wabai is a well-documented formulation in Unani medicine for its wide use as prophylaxis during epidemics of cholera, plague and other earlier epidemic diseases. The objective of the current study is to generate in-silico evidence and evaluate the potency of Tiryaq-e-Wabai against SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) glycoprotein and main protease (3CLpro). The structures of all phytocompounds used in this study were retrieved from PubChem database and some were built using Marvin Sketch. The protein structure of the SARS-CoV-2 S glycoprotein and 3CLpro was retrieved from the PDB ID: 6LZG and 7BQY respectively. AutoDock Vina was used to predict top ranking poses with best scores. The results of the molecular docking showed that phytocompounds of Tiryaq-e-Wabai exhibited good docking power with spike glycoprotein and 3CLpro. Among tested compounds Crocin from Zafran and Aloin A from Sibr showed strong binding to spike glycoprotein and 3CLpro respectively. Molecular dynamics simulation confirmed the stability of the S glycoprotein-Crocin and 3CLpro-Aloin A complexes. The Unani formulation Tiryaq-e-Wabai has great potential to inhibit the SARS-CoV-2, which have to be substantiated with further in-vitro and in-vivo studies. Keywords: In-silico study, SARS-CoV-2, Tiryaq-e-Wabai, Unani formulation, Crocin, Aloin A

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Background:Azaraqi (Strychnos nux-vomica, Loganiaceae) has been the important Unani medicine since long time as a stimulant, anti-inflammatory, and blood purifier. It has been used very frequently by the Unani practitioner. But the Unani system recommends application of azaraqi in medicine only after its detoxification (tadbeer) may be because of the presence of its deadly poisonous alkaloids (strychnine and brucine). In the present investigation, an attempt has been made to quantify the actual content of their toxic alkaloids before and after the tadbeer.Materials and Methods:A sensitive high-performance thin layer chromatographic (HPTLC) method has been developed for estimation of strychnine and brucine in different samples of azaraqi before and after tadbeer. Precoated HPTLC silica gel plates were used as stationary phase and (toluene: Ethyl acetate: Dietylamine 7:2:1 v/v/v) was used as mobile phase.Result:The Rf value of strychnine and brucine was found as 0.53 and 0.41, respectively. Detection and quantification were performed by densitometry at 270 nm. The calibration plot was linear in the range of 50–1000 ng of strychnine and brucine, respectively, with the correlation coefficient (r2) 0.993 and 0.991 for strychnine and brucine, respectively, which confirms good linearity. The content of strychnine was 0.175, 0.07, 0.18, 0.051, and 0.075% w/w whereas brucine was 0.16, 0.117, 0.061, 0.045, and 0.057 in crude azaraqi, azaraqi without outer cover, azaraqi outer cover only, azaraqi mudabbar and azaraqi mudabbar by fried in ghee, respectively.Conclusion:The detoxification results in sharp decrease in content of toxic metabolites. The process by boiling in milk was found much effective but tedious as compare to frying method.