Antiviral and immunomodulatory activity of curcumin: A case for prophylactic therapy for COVID-19

Abstract

Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19), a devastating respiratory illness caused by SARS-associated coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), has already affected over 64 million people and caused 1.48 million deaths, just 12 months from the first diagnosis. COVID-19 patients develop serious complications, including severe pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and or multiorgan failure due to exaggerated host immune response following infection. Currently, drugs that were effective against SARS-CoV are being repurposed for SARS-CoV-2. During this public health emergency, food nutraceuticals could be promising prophylactic therapeutics for COVID-19. Curcumin, a bioactive compound in turmeric, exerts diverse pharmacological activities and is widely used in foods and traditional medicines. This review presents several lines of evidence, which suggest curcumin as a promising prophylactic, therapeutic candidate for COVID-19. First, curcumin exerts antiviral activity against many types of enveloped viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, by multiple mechanisms: direct interaction with viral membrane proteins; disruption of the viral envelope; inhibition of viral proteases; induce host antiviral responses. Second, curcumin protects from lethal pneumonia and ARDS via targeting NF-κB, inflammasome, IL-6 trans signal, and HMGB1 pathways. Third, curcumin is safe and well-tolerated in both healthy and diseased human subjects. In conclusion, accumulated evidence indicates that curcumin may be a potential prophylactic therapeutic for COVID-19 in the clinic and public health settings.

Curcumin as a Potential Treatment for COVID-19

“…Due to the uncountable mechanisms of action addressed in this and other reviews, it has been reinforced that curcumin could serve as an adjuvant drug in COVID-19 treatment (Babaei et al, 2020;Manoharan et al, 2020;Roy et al, 2020;Soni et al, 2020;Zahedipour et al, 2020;Saeedi-Boroujeni et al, 2021;Thimmulappa et al, 2021). The multiplicity of pathophysiological responses induced by SARS-CoV-2 highlights the need for a combination of different drugs as a treatment strategy (i.e., there is no single "magic pill" for the cure of COVID-19).…”

Recent Progress in Nanotechnology for COVID-19 Prevention, Diagnostics and Treatment

“…In addition, curcumin reduced the penetration of immune cells and the expression of adhesion molecules and proinflammatory mediators in vascular cells [ 169 , 173 ]. The abilities of curcumin to reduce cytokine release syndrome, oxidative stress, apoptosis, and tissue damage following viral infection suggest that it can be used as a promising agent for COVID-19 treatment [ 174 ].…”

Enhancement of Biological and Pharmacological Properties of an Encapsulated Polyphenol: Curcumin

“…Inhibition of inflammatory cytokines by CUR is achieved through several mechanisms. CUR was reported to regulate activation of transcription factors such as activating protein-1 (AP-1) and NF-κB in stimulated monocytes and alveolar macrophages, thereby blocking expression of cytokine gene expression [56] Several studies have reported the effect of CUR in disease and recently, some studies have suggested that CUR may be useful for treating COVID-19 [57,58] due to immunomodulatory activity which reduces early inflammatory responses effectively improving the survival of severely ill hospitalised COVID-19 patients. Cytokines, particularly IL1β and IL6 are markedly elevated in severely ill COVID-19 patients and CUR may conceivably reduce the level of these cytokines [59,60].…”

“…Several studies have reported the effect of CUR in disease and recently, some studies have suggested that CUR may be useful for treating COVID-19 [ 57 , 58 ] due to immunomodulatory activity which reduces early inflammatory responses effectively improving the survival of severely ill hospitalised COVID-19 patients. Cytokines, particularly IL1β and IL6 are markedly elevated in severely ill COVID-19 patients and CUR may conceivably reduce the level of these cytokines [ 59 , 60 ].…”

“…CUR exhibits antiviral properties and several studies have reported that CUR interrupts viral infection processes by different mechanisms, including prevention of viral entry, inhibition of replication, directly targeting viral proteins, blocking particle production and gene expression [ 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 , 72 ]. CUR has been reported to be effective against SARS-CoV in in vitro studies [ 68 ] and more recently it has also been postulated that it may have antiviral effects against SARS-CoV2, the virus that causes COVID-19 [ 57 , 58 , 73 , 74 ]. Wen et al [ 68 ] reported that CUR inhibits SARS-CoV 3CL protease activity, which is vital for viral replication.…”