Ishaku Leo Elisha, Barde Israel Joshua*, Akpojosevbe Edirin James, Tondo Bernard Kpensalen, Zainab Muhammad, Oyebade Kehinde Funmi, Akogwu Emmanuel Itodo, Makoshi Micah Shehu, Shok Blessing Zataat, Joy Gararawa Usman, Hong Joseph, Gotep Jurbe Gofwan, Sadiq Yahaya, Sunday Makama, Ngulukun Sati Samuel and Muhammad Maryam

National Veterinary Research Institute, Vom, Plateau State, Nigeria

*Corresponding Author: Barde Israel Joshua, National Veterinary Research Institute, Vom, Plateau State, Nigeria.

Received: February 18, 2022; Published: March 18, 2022

Abstract

The global use of medicinal plants increased astronomically during the COVID-19 pandemic, due to claims that phytomedicines with immunomodulatory or anti-inflammatory activities can prevent or cure COVID-19 infections. The present study employed scientometric techniques to analyse 830 publications retrieved from Scopus database using VOSviewer. The search for potent and safe medicinal plants against COVID-19 infections were divided into three main components namely review of literatures, in silico studies vis-á-vis molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations, and network pharmacology. Our studies revealed that international institutional collaborations increased during the period under review. Our findings also indicated close research and publication efforts amongst scientist in both developed and the developing countries. Some medicinal plants with appreciable publication visibilities screened for their therapeutic potentials against COVID-19 infections included Allium sativum, Artemisia annua, Azadirachta indica, Ocimum sanctum, Tinospora cordifolia and Withania somnifera. Some phytocompounds with high occurrences included kaempferol, emodin, curcumin, artemisinin, catechin, ursolic acid, luteolin, myricetin and rutin. In silico investigations served as a vital component of medicinal plant research,which helped in the identification of many natural compounds with the potential of targeting SARS-CoV-2. More in vitro and in vivo studies are recommended to validate the potential of these natural compounds in the mitigation of SARS-CoV-2. Specific preclinical and clinical trials are required to evaluate the effects of herbal immunoregulators need more attention. Medicinal plants remain an important source for finding and developing remedies against COVID-19.

Keywords: Scientometrics; Bibliometrics; SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; Medicinal Plants; Phytomolecules; Phytotherapeutics; Herbal Remedies; Prevention; Cure

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Citation

Citation: Ishaku Leo Elisha., et al. “COVID-19 Pandemic: A Scientometric Assessment of Relevant Global Publications on Medicinal Plants as Potential Source of Phytomolecules Against an Infamous Foe". Acta Scientific Microbiology 5.4 (2022): 98-118.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2022 Ishaku Leo Elisha., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.