Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are widely recognized for their unique optical, electronic, and antibacterial properties, enabling their use in biosensing, photonics, electronics, drug delivery, and antimicrobial treatments. Green chemistry-based biological synthesis methods offer an eco-friendly alternative to traditional chemical techniques. Among metallic nanoparticles (NPs) and metal oxides, those derived from plant extracts exhibit notable medicinal properties. Due to their exceptional stability and low chemical reactivity, AgNPs are particularly well-suited for various biological applications. AgNPs can be synthesized through chemical, physical, or biological methods, each with distinct benefits and challenges. Chemical and physical approaches often involve complex purification, reactive reagents, and high energy demands, while biological methods, though slower, provide sustainable solutions. The chosen synthesis method strongly influences the stability, size, and purity of the resulting NPs. This review emphasizes the importance of selecting appropriate synthesis methods to optimize the characteristics and functionality of silver NPs. It consolidates research spanning the past two decades, including the most recent findings from 2024. A comprehensive electronic search of databases such as PubMed, Scopus, ScienceDirect, Cochrane, and Google Scholar was conducted to provide an up-to-date overview of advances in the synthesis and applications of silver nanoparticles.

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The novel Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by SARS-CoV-2, which is the causative agent of a potentially fatal disease that is of great global public health concern. The outbreak of COVID-19 is wreaking havoc worldwide due to inadequate risk assessment regarding the urgency of the situation. The COVID-19 pandemic has entered a dangerous new phase. When compared with SARS and MERS, COVID-19 has spread more rapidly, due to increased globalization and adaptation of the virus in every environment. Slowing the spread of the COVID-19 cases will significantly reduce the strain on the healthcare system of the country by limiting the number of people who are severely sick by COVID-19 and need hospital care. Hence, the recent outburst of COVID-19 highlights an urgent need for therapeutics targeting SARS-CoV-2. Here, we have discussed the structure of virus; varying symptoms among COVID-19, SARS, MERS and common flu; the probable mechanism behind the infection and its immune response. Further, the current treatment options, drugs available, ongoing trials and recent diagnostics for COVID-19 have been discussed. We suggest traditional Indian medicinal plants as possible novel therapeutic approaches, exclusively targeting SARS-CoV-2 and its pathways.

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The majority of current infectious diseases are almost untreatable by conventional antibiotic therapy given the advent of multidrug-resistant bacteria. The degree of severity and the persistence of infections are worsened when microorganisms form biofilms. Therefore, efforts are being applied to develop new drugs not as vulnerable as the current ones to bacterial resistance mechanisms, and also able to target bacteria in biofilms. Natural products, especially those obtained from plants, have proven to be outstanding compounds with unique properties, making them perfect candidates for these much-needed therapeutics. This review presents the current knowledge on the potentialities of plant products as antibiotic adjuvants to restore the therapeutic activity of drugs. Further, the difficulties associated with the use of the existing antibiotics in the treatment of biofilm-related infections are described. To counteract the biofilm resistance problems, innovative strategies are suggested based on literature data. Among the proposed strategies, the use of phytochemicals to inhibit or eradicate biofilms is highlighted. An overview on the use of phytochemicals to interfere with bacterial quorum sensing (QS) signaling pathways and underlying phenotypes is provided. The use of phytochemicals as chelating agents and efflux pump inhibitors is also reviewed.

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In this paper, 126 traditional medicinal plants from Kirklareli Province in Turkey have been reported. One hundred and twenty six plant species belonging to 54 families and among them 100 species were wild and 26 species were cultivated plants. Most used families were Rosaceae, Labiatae, Compositae and the most used plants were Cotinus coggyria, Sambucus ebulus, Achillea millefolium subsp. pannonica, Hypericum perforatum, Matricaria chamomilla var. recutita, Melissa officinalis subsp. officinalis, Juglans regia, Thymus longicaulis subsp. longicaulis var. subisophyllus, Malva sylvestris, Urtica dioica, Plantago lanceolata, Rosa canina, Ecballium elaterium, Artemisia absinthium, Viscum album subsp. album, Papaver rhoeas, Helleborus orientalis, Cydonia oblonga, Prunus spinosa subsp. dasyphylla, Rubus discolor, Sorbus domestica. A total of 143 medicinal uses were obtained. The traditional medicinal plants have been mostly used for the treatment of wounds (25.3%), cold and influenza (24.6%), stomach (20%), cough (19%), kidney ailments (18.2%), diabetes (13.4%).

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Ribosome-inactivating proteins (RIPs), mostly from plants, are enzymes which depurinate rRNA, thus inhibiting protein synthesis. They also depurinate other polynucleotide substrates. The biological activity of RIPs is not completely clarified, and sometimes independent of the inhibition of protein synthesis. There are differences in the cytotoxicity of RIPs and, consequently, in their toxicity to animals. Some RIPs are potent toxins, the best known being ricin, a potential biological weapon. New toxins have recently been identified. RIPs cause apoptotic and necrotic lesions, and induce production of cytokines causing inflammation. RIPs are potentially useful in agriculture and medicine because (i) they have antiviral activity and (ii) they are used for the preparation of conjugates with antibodies ('immunotoxins') or other carriers, rendering them specifically toxic to the cell target of the carrier, which may be helpful in therapy. The distribution, mechanism of action and role in nature of RIPs are not completely understood, and we can expect several future developments in their practical application.

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