Can Giloy (गिलोय) cure COVID-19 ?

Can Giloy (गिलोय) cure Covid-19?

We all know that there is no medicine for COVID 19 cure. But at the same time, we can prevent diseases by improving immunity. Here is a wonder herb Giloy (गिलोय), Guduchi or Tinospora Cordifolia cure COVID-19 being used to improve our immunity system.

It has been used for centuries in Indian Ayurvedic medicines mainly for the treatment of fever, jaundice, chronic diarrhoea, cancer, dysentery, bone fracture, pain, asthma, skin disease, poisonous insect, snake bite, eye disorders and has shown very positive results. No doubt, this herb has the miraculous power to improve immunity.

A variety of active components derived from the plant like alkaloids, steroids, diterpenoid lactones, aliphatics, and glycosides (Ref-1) have great medicinal properties like anti-diabetic, anti-periodic, anti-spasmodic, anti-inflammatory, anti-arthritic, anti-oxidant, anti-allergic, anti-stress, anti-leprotic, anti-malarial, hepatoprotective, immunomodulatory and anti-neoplastic activities.

In Indian Ayurvedic medicine, it has been used for in the treatment of fever, jaundice, chronic diarrhoea, cancer, dysentery, bone fracture, pain, asthma, skin disease, poisonous insect, snake bite, eye disorders and has shown very positive results. This herb has a miraculous power to improve immunity.

I will take up one by one few of the researches results conducted by doctors and scientists in the recent past but First I will discuss

Can we take it for COVID-19:

 Yes but only as a supplement. Giloy (Tinospora Cordifolia) is known for improving our immunity, has, anti-oxidant, anti-stress, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties. It also corrects several disorders in our body. So if we take it would certainly help us in fighting Covid-19.

What Dose Should we take:

Please note we should not take it in excess or religiously on a regular basis. After all, it contains active chemicals, which are bound to have side effects if taken in excess. But it can never be your main line of treatment. Best is to consult your doctor who would suggest you doses depending upon your weight, age, height, medical background (etcs). Regular Self-medication in excess even in case of Ayurvedic medicines may harm your body.

Should we take leaf, stem, roots, or consume it in powder and tablet form:

(A): No doubt, best is if you take leaf or stem and chew it (this would give you the best results as when we convert it into a काढ़ा (potion) many of its chemicals evaporates or lowers its medical property. However, if you cannot take it raw, you may prepare a काढ़ा (potion) and drink it (result certainly would not be as effective).

(B): And in case you do not have Giloy plant nearby, you have no option but to rely on its power/tablet form. Please take advice from an Ayurvedic doctor or as prescribed by the manufacturer. Note: Do not take it on a regular basis for a long without consulting a doctor…Just forget that medicinal plants do not have any side effects. Medicinal plants have chemicals and excess of it is bound to have side effects. Your family physician can advise you the best.

A variety of active components derived from the plant like alkaloids, steroids, diterpenoid lactones, aliphatics, and glycosides (Ref-1) have great medicinal properties like anti-diabetic, anti-periodic, anti-spasmodic, anti-inflammatory, anti-arthritic, anti-oxidant, anti-allergic, anti-stress, anti-leprotic, anti-malarial, hepatoprotective, immunomodulatory and anti-neoplastic activities.

In Indian Ayurvedic medicine, it has been used for in the treatment of fever, jaundice, chronic diarrhoea, cancer, dysentery, bone fracture, pain, asthma, skin disease, poisonous insect, snake bite, eye disorders and has shown very positive results. This herb has a miraculous power to improve immunity.

Now I am going to discuss a few of the scientific studies conducted so far. I am not a doctor, and the source of these research papers is credible medical journals. I do not claim its authenticity and since I am not a doctor there might be some inadvertent typographical errors or in understanding its observations. My Purpose is to help you understand this plant and take its advantage in the curing/preventing Covid-19 (if at all it is useful).  

Lets see how it works in our body:

Different parts of the plant contain A myriad of biologically active compounds, including alkaloids, diterpenoid lactones, glycosides, steroids, sesquiterpenoid, phenolics, aliphatic compounds, and polysaccharides. Its extracts are extensively used in various herbal preparations for the treatment of different ailments for its anti-periodic, anti-spasmodic, anti-microbial, anti-osteoporotic, anti-inflammatory, anti-arthritic, anti-allergic, and anti-diabetic properties (Ref 2).All these compounds have different biological roles in our body. But in nutshell, it helps to remove toxins, purifies blood, fights bacteria and virus that causes diseases, combats liver diseases and urinary tract infections, and corrects several disorders in our body. I am trying to take its medical properties one by one.

 

How it improves our immunity:

 

Active compounds 11-hydroxymustakone, N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone, N-formylannonain, cordifolioside A, magnoflorine, tinocordiside and syringing. It boost the phagocytic activity of macrophages, production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in human neutrophil cells.  It also have potential to improve our immunidy and and cytotoxic effects (which helps in destroying cancer cells or recover our body from its effect).

Anti-diabetes property:

It has been reported to mediate its anti-diabetic potential through mitigating oxidative stress (OS), promoting insulin secretion and also by inhibiting gluconeogenesis and glycogenolysis, thereby regulating blood glucose. (Ref 3) Alkaloids, tannins, cardiac glycosides, flavonoids, saponins, and steroids as the major phytoconstituents (Ref 4) of Tinospora cordifolia have been reported to play an anti-diabetic role.

The isoquinoline alkaloid rich fraction from the stem, including, palmatine, jatrorrhizine, and magnoflorine have been reported for insulin-mimicking and insulin-releasing effect both in vitro and in vivo.(Ref 5) Oral treatments of root extracts have been reported to regulate blood glucose levels, enhance insulin secretion and suppress OS markers.

The root extract has been reported to decrease the levels of glycosylated hemoglobin, plasma thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, hydroperoxides, ceruloplasmin and vitamin E diabetic rats (Ref 6).

Anti Toxis Property:

Tinospora cordifolia extracts have been reported to scavenge free radicals generated during aflatoxicosis. (Ref 7) It exhibited protective effects by lowering thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) levels and enhancing the GSH, ascorbic acid, protein, and the activities of anti-oxidant enzymes viz., SOD, CAT, GPx, Glutathione S-transferase (GST) and glutathione reductase (GR) in kidney. Alkaloids such as a choline, tinosporin, isocolumbin, palmatine, tetrahydropalmatine, and magnoflorine from Tinospora cordifolia showed protection against aflatoxin-induced nephrotoxicity.

Anti-arthritic, anti-osteoporotic Property:

Tinospora cordifolia have been reported to affect the proliferation, differentiation and mineralization of bone like matrix on osteoblast model systems in vitro and hence finds potential application as an anti-osteoporotic agent. Alcoholic extract of Tinospora cordifolia have been shown to stimulate the growth of osteoblasts, increasing the differentiation of cells into osteoblastic lineage and also increasing the mineralization of bone like matrix. (Ref 8)

Anti HIV and Anti Cancer Property:

Tinospora cordifolia   has been shown to demonstrate a decrease in the recurrent resistance of HIV virus thus improving the therapeutic outcome.Anti-HIV effects of TCE was revealed by a reduction in eosinophil count, stimulation of B lymphocytes, macrophages and polymorphonuclear leucocytes and hemoglobin percentage thus, revealing its promising role of application in management of the disease.

he anti-cancer effects of Tinospora cordifolia are mostly studied in animal models. It reported to have a radioprotective role by significantly increase in body weight, tissue weight, testes-body weight ratio and tubular diameter and inhibit the harmful effects of sub-lethal gamma radiation on testes in male Swiss albino mice. In pre-irradiating mice, TCE significantly affected radiation induced rise in lipid peroxidation and resulted in the decline of GSH concentration in testes.(Ref 9) Pre-treatment of HeLa cells by TCE have been shown to decrease the cell viability, increase LDH and decrease in GSH S-transferase activity.

Anti microbial and Anti-Oxident Property:

The methanol extracts of Tinospora cordifolia have been reported to have potential against microbial infections. (Ref 10) The anti-bacterial activity of Tinospora cordifolia extracts has been assayed against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus vulgaris, Salmonella typhi, Shigella flexneri, Salmonella paratyphi, Salmonella typhimurium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterobacter aerogene, and Serratia marcesenses (Gram-positive bacteria).

The anti-oxidant capacity of Tinospora cordifolia stem methanol extracts administered orally increased the erythrocytes membrane lipid peroxide and catalase activity. It also decreased the activities of SOD, GPx in alloxan-induced diabetic rats. Tinospora cordifolia Willd.(Menispermaceae) extracts possess possible inhibitors of aldose reductase and anti-oxidant agents Ref (11) thereby reducing chemotoxicity induced by free radicals

Tinospora cordifolia has the ability to scavenge free radicals generated during aflatoxicosis. Tinospora cordifolia showed protection against aflatoxin-induced nephrotoxicity due to the presence of alkaloids such as a choline, tinosporin, isocolumbin, palmatine, tetrahydropalmatine, and magnoflorine.

 

Ref 1): Upadhyay AK, Kumar K, Kumar A, Mishra HS. Tinospora cordifolia (Willd.) Hook. f. and Thoms. (Guduchi)-validation of the Ayurvedic pharmacology through experimental and clinical studies. Int J Ayurveda Res. 2010;1:112–21.

Ref 2): Sharma U, Bala M, Kumar N, Singh B, Munshi RK, Bhalerao S. Immunomodulatory active compounds from Tinospora cordifolia. J Ethnopharmacol. 2012;141:918–26.

Ref 3):  Sangeetha MK, Raghavendran Balaji HR, Gayathri V, Vasanthi HR. Tinospora cordifolia attenuates oxidative stress and distorted carbohydrate metabolism in experimentally induced type 2 diabetes in rats. J Nat Med. 2011;65:544–50.

Ref 4): P S, Zinjarde SS, Bhargava SY, Kumar AR. Potent α-amylase inhibitory activity of Indian Ayurvedic medicinal plants. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2011;11:5.

Ref (5)  Patel MB, Mishra S. Hypoglycemic activity of alkaloidal fraction of Tinospora cordifolia. Phytomedicine. 2011;18:1045–52.

Ref (6) Umamaheswari S, Prince Mainzen PS. Antihyperglycaemic effect of ‘Ilogen-Excel’, an ayurvedic herbal formulation in streptozotocin-induced diabetes mellitus. Acta Pol Pharm. 2007;64:53–61.

Ref (7) Gupta R, Sharma V. Ameliorative effects of Tinospora cordifolia root extract on histopathological and biochemical changes induced by aflatoxin-b (1) in mice kidney. Toxicol Int. 2011;18:94–8. 

Ref (8) Chopra A, Saluja M, Tillu G, Venugopalan A, Narsimulu G, Handa R, et al. Comparable efficacy of standardized ayurveda formulation and hydroxychloroquine sulfate (HCQS) in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA): A randomized investigator-blind controlled study. Clin Rheumatol. 2012;31:259–69.

Ref (9): Sharma P, Parmar J, Sharma P, Verma P, Goyal PK. Radiation-Induced Testicular Injury and Its Amelioration by Tinospora cordifolia (An Indian Medicinal Plant) Extract. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2011;2011:643847.

Ref (10): Narayanan AS, Raja SS, Ponmurugan K, Kandekar SC, Natarajaseenivasan K, Maripandi A, et al. Antibacterial activity of selected medicinal plants against multiple antibiotic resistant uropathogens: A study from Kolli Hills, Tamil Nadu, India. Benef Microbes. 2011;2:235–43.

Ref (11):  Gacche RN, Dhole NA. Profile of aldose reductase inhibition, anti-cataract and free radical scavenging activity of selected medicinal plants: An attempt to standardize the botanicals for amelioration of diabetes complications. Food Chem Toxicol. 2011;49:1806–13. And  Rawal A, Muddeshwar M, Biswas S. Effect of rubia cordifolia, Fagonia cretica linn, and Tinospora cordifolia on free radical generation and lipid peroxidation during oxygen-glucose deprivation in rat hippocampal slices. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2004;324:588–96.

DISCLAIMER:

Frankly speaking, I have collected so much material on this that I can write a book on it. But my purpose is not to become a researcher or to make you all a doctor. The idea is only to tell you the medicinal properties of the plant and to help you understand when to take it and when not to take it in power/tablets form . The above information is sourced from various credible websites (mostly government) or the research book of established doctors/researchers. Collected it clubbed it and presented it in a possible simpler and interesting form. ENDS.

By Vijay Thakur, Special Representative, The Statesman