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Plant diversity is a basic source of food and medicines for the local communities of the Himalayas. Current study was intended to assess polyphenolics content and antioxidant potential in edible wild fruits used as food and to treat various diseases by the inhabitants of Himalayan region of Pakistan. The fruits of 20 plant species were evaluated using standard protocols, whereas information on medicinal uses was gathered through semistructured interviews. Comparatively, Prunus domestica and Rubus ellipticus fruits exhibited highest levels of phenolics and flavonols contents (113.55 ± 0.61 mg GAE/100 g and 200.06 ± 1.57 mg RtE/100 g FW, respectively) in acetone extract. Nevertheless, flavonoids were maximum in the water extract of Rosa moschata (194.82 ± 3.46 mg RtE/100 g FW). Contrary, Duchesnea indica fruit depicted significant potential to scavenge DPPH and H2O2 radicals at 94.66 ± 8.89% in acetone extract and 83.54± 9.37% in water extract, while acetone extract of Rubus ellipticus had maximum potential to reduce ferric ions (133.66 ± 15.00 µM GAE/100 g FW). Additionally, total antioxidant capacity was highest in the acetone extract of Berberis lycium fruit (332.08 ± 21.90 µM AAE/100 g FW). The relationships between polyphenolics and antioxidant activity revealed synergistic role of secondary metabolites in the prevention of diseases. Our study revealed that wild fruits consumed by the local communities of Himalayas are rich in health beneficial phytochemicals and hold significant potential to treat chronic diseases, particularly associated with free radicals.

Background: COVID-19 is a type of pneumonia caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection that was identified in December 2019. Corticosteroid therapy was empirically used for clinical treatment in the early stage of the disease outbreak; however, data regarding its efficacy and safety are controversial. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of corticosteroid therapy in patients with COVID-19.

In order to investigate polymeric flavonoids, the polycondensate of catechin with glyoxylic acid (PCG) was prepared and its chemically antioxidant, cellular antioxidant (CAA) and α-glucosidase inhibitory activities were evaluated. The DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activities and antiproliferative effect of PCG were lower than those of catechin, while PCG had higher CAA activity than catechin. In addition, PCG had very high α-glucosidase inhibitory activities (IC50 value, 2.59 μg/mL) in comparison to catechin (IC50 value, 239.27 μg/mL). Inhibition kinetics suggested that both PCG and catechin demonstrated a mixture of noncompetitive and anticompetitive inhibition. The enhanced CAA and α-glucosidase inhibitor activities of PCG could be due to catechin polymerization enhancing the binding capacity to the cellular membrane and enzymes.