Natural immunity boosters: Clinical trial reports

Background

Food is the basic need of a human, Nature has blessed humans with food containing naturally occurring antioxidants that protect the body from the harmful effects of free radicals, which leads to oxidative stress. Studies have shown that antioxidant supplementation significantly boosts certain immune responses. Recently, the pandemic caused by SAR-CoV 2 virus has greatly impacted the erg to know about a balanced diet and nutritional requirements for enhancing immunity. 

Besides the normal daily food, the use of food supplements and Heath drinks containing essential vitamins, minerals and extracts from natural plants and herbs have become important which have immune-boosting, antiviral, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory effects. One such health drink is the Mulmina® having antioxidant, immune booster and stress reliever properties. It is available in two flavours which contain extracts from different plants such as Amla, Mango, Centella asiatica, Orange, and turmeric along with the required amount of mineral. Vitamin A, C, E present have a high antioxidant property that reduces oxidative stress and prevents cell damage. Hence, in-vitro clinical trials were performed out to prove the efficacy of the health drink¹. 

Study design and Method²

The study was designed to estimate the total antioxidant capacity of Mulmina® in normal and stress-induced mice

The acute hypovolemic hemorrhagic stress was induced in BALB/c mice by withdrawing 10% blood of total blood volume. The standard antioxidant used was Vitamin E and the total antioxidant capacity was determined and compared using plasma samples of both normal and stress-induced mice. 

Results²

• The normal mice showed no elevation in the total antioxidant capacity when treated with Vitamin E (40 mg/kg) as well as Mulmina® (40 mg/kg and 80 mL/kg) as compared to normal control.
• In stressed animals, significant improvement was observed in the total antioxidant capacity (p<0.0001), on treating with Mulmina®
• In Mulmina® treated group, a significant improvement was seen in the total antioxidant capacity as compared with baseline (58.15±7.465 vs. 788.1±105; p<0.0001).
• Also, the total antioxidant capacity showed significant elevation as compared with baseline (45.11±11.28 vs. 946.3±202.3) in Mulmina® treated group after induction of stress.

Discussion ^2,3

Antioxidants are compounds that neutralize and help in scavenging the excess Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) and maintain intracellular antioxidant balance. Mulnima contains phytoconstituents such as carotenoids, curcumin, Mangiferin, quercetin obtained from different herbs such as turmeric, Centella, orange, mango, amla have strong antioxidant properties. Studies have shown flavonoids present in mango enhances the free radical scavenging enzymes and decrease in lipid peroxidation levels. Saponins present in Centella Asiatica, have been shown to decrease the formation of ROS, thus reducing the oxidative stress and SOD levels, which confirm its strong antioxidant activity ².  Additionally, Centella Asiatica contains polyphenol, flavonoid, β-carotene,  tannin,  Vitamin  C  which also has significant antioxidant activity. Studies by Wang et al showed that turmeric contains curcumin which has strong antioxidant properties and helps in inhibition of inflammation in the lung cells and reduces oxidative stress causing lung damage, reduces edema and lung injury and maintains a redox balance ^3,4.

Conclusion

The above trial concludes that Mulmina® containing extracts from different herbs possess strong antioxidant properties which may help to remove the excess free radicals formed and prevent damage to membranes, enzymes, and DNA and in the long run, lead to boost the  immunity in a person, which is of most priority in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic situation.

References:

1. Adrianne Bendich. Physiological Role of Antioxidants in the Immune System. Journal of Dairy Science, 1993, Volume 76, Issue 9, , 2789-2794.
2. Mulmina, Scientific updates,Update-1, 1-64.
3. XunWang, X. A., XiaocenWang, ChenBa, JingLi, DongYang, Chunxue Bai. Curcumin ameliorated ventilator-induced lung injury in rats. Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy., 2018, 98, 754-761.
4. Bruna A. C. Rattis, G. R. a. N. C. Curcumin as a Potential Treatment for COVID-19. Front. Pharmacol., 2021, 12, 1-14.