Background
The current health concern to the entire world is the chronic respiratory disease caused by coronavirus 2 (COVID-19). A specific treatment or proper therapy is still lacking, and the investigations from across the world for proper drug/vaccine development towards disease control are in progress. The Coronavirus replication takes place by the conversion of the polypeptide into functional protein and this occurs due to the key enzyme Main protease (M
pro
). Therefore, identification of natural and effective M
pro
inhibitors could be a safe and promising approach for COVID-19 control.
Methods
The present
in silico
study evaluates the effect of bioactive compounds found in
Eucalyptus
and
Corymbia
species essential oil on M
pro
by docking. Molecular docking of the major seven compounds of essential oil (citronellol, alpha-terpineol, eucalyptol,
d
-limonene, 3-carene,
o
-cymene, and alpha-pinene) with M
pro
was studied by AutoDock 4.2, and the properties were analysed by PreADMET and Biovia Discovery Studio visualizer.
Results
The calculated parameters such as binding energy, hydrophobic interactions, and hydrogen bond interactions of 6LU7 (M
pro
) with
Eucalyptus
and
Corymbia
volatile secondary metabolites represented its scope as an effective therapy option against covid-19. Among the docked compounds, eucalyptol shows the least binding energy without toxicity.
Conclusions
The outcome of this study reported that the essential oil of
Eucalyptus
and
Corymbia
species, mainly eucalyptol can be utilized as a potential inhibitor against COVID-19 and also it can be used in its treatment. Hence, further analysis was required to explore its potential application in medicine.
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