Artificial intelligence (AI) is a branch of computer science that allows machines to work efficiently, can analyze complex data. The research focused on AI has increased tremendously, and its role in healthcare service and research is emerging at a greater pace. This review elaborates on the opportunities and challenges of AI in healthcare and pharmaceutical research. The literature was collected from domains such as PubMed, Science Direct and Google scholar using specific keywords and phrases such as ‘Artificial intelligence’, ‘Pharmaceutical research’, ‘drug discovery’, ‘clinical trial’, ‘disease diagnosis’, etc. to select the research and review articles published within the last five years. The application of AI in disease diagnosis, digital therapy, personalized treatment, drug discovery and forecasting epidemics or pandemics was extensively reviewed in this article. Deep learning and neural networks are the most used AI technologies; Bayesian nonparametric models are the potential technologies for clinical trial design; natural language processing and wearable devices are used in patient identification and clinical trial monitoring. Deep learning and neural networks were applied in predicting the outbreak of seasonal influenza, Zika, Ebola, Tuberculosis and COVID-19. With the advancement of AI technologies, the scientific community may witness rapid and cost-effective healthcare and pharmaceutical research as well as provide improved service to the general public.

Neurodegenerative diseases are usually sporadic in nature and commonly influenced by a wide range of genetic, life style and environmental factors. A unifying feature of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD) is the abnormal accumulation and processing of mutant or damaged intra and extracellular proteins; this leads to neuronal vulnerability and dysfunction in the brain. Through a detailed review of ubiquitin proteasome, mRNA splicing, mitochondrial dysfunction, and oxidative stress pathway interrelation on neurodegeneration can improve the understanding of the disease mechanism. The identified pathways common to AD and PD nominate promising new targets for further studies, and as well as biomarkers. These insights suggested would likely provide major stimuli for developing unified treatment approaches to combat neurodegeneration. More broadly, pathways can serve as vehicles for integrating findings from diverse studies of neurodegeneration. The evidence examined in this review provides a brief overview of the current literature on significant pathways in promoting in AD, PD. Additionally, these insights suggest that biomarkers and treatment strategies may require simultaneous targeting of multiple components.

For many years, circular ribonucleic acids (circRNAs) have been counted as aberrant splicing by-products. Advanced bioinformatics analysis and deep sequencing techniques have allowed researchers to discover more interesting facts about circRNAs. Intriguing evidence has shed light on the functions of circRNAs in many tissues. Furthermore, emerging reports showed that circRNAs are found abundantly in saliva and blood samples, suggesting that circRNAs are potential clinical biomarkers for human embryonic development, diseases progression and prognosis, in addition to its role in organogenesis and pathogenesis. The implementation of circRNAs in human developmental stages and diseases would be a tremendous discovery in the science and medical field. Therefore, circRNAs have been studied for its biological function as well as its implication in various human diseases. The aim of this review is to highlight the importance of circRNAs in cardiac, respiratory, nervous, endocrine and digestive systems. In addition, the role and impact of circRNAs in, cardiogenesis, neurogenesis and cancer have been discussed.

Centella asiatica is a popular herb well-known for its wide range of therapeutic effects and its use as a folk medicine for many years. Its therapeutic properties have been well correlated with the presence of asiaticoside, madecassoside, asiatic and madecassic acids, the pentacyclic triterpenes. The herb has been extensively known to treat skin conditions; nevertheless, several pre-clinical and clinical studies have scientifically demonstrated its effectiveness in other disorders. Among the active constituents that have been identified in Centella asiatica, madecassoside has been the subject of only a relatively small number of scientific reports. Therefore, this review, while including other major constituents of this plant, focuses on the therapeutic potential, pharmacokinetics and toxicity of madecassoside.