Potent phytochemicals against COVID-19 infection from phyto-materials used as antivirals in complementary medicines: a review

Abstract

Background Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a surge of research activity to find methods/drugs to treat it. There has been drug-repurposing research focusing on traditional medicines. Concomitantly, many researchers tried to find in silico evidence for traditional medicines. There is a great increase in article publication to commensurate the new-found research interests. This situation inspired the authors to have a comprehensive understanding of the multitude of publications related to the COVID-19 pandemic with a wish to get promising drug leads. Main body This review article has been conceived and made as a hybrid of the review of the selected papers advertised recently and produced in the interest of the COVID-19 situation, and in silico work done by the authors. The outcome of the present review underscores a recommendation for thorough MDS analyses of the promising drug leads. The inclusion of in silico work as an addition to the review was motivated by a recently published article of Toelzer and colleagues. The in silico investigation of free fatty acids is novel to the field and it buttresses the further MDS analysis of drug leads for managing the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion The review performed threw light on the need for MDS analyses to be considered together with the application of other in silico methods of prediction of pharmacologic properties directing towards the sites of drug-receptor regulation. Also, the present analysis would help formulate new recipes for complementary medicines.

Simple Theoretical Criterion for Selection of Natural Compounds with Anti-COVID-19 Activity

“…Several laboratory and clinical studies have demonstrated remarkable efficacy of different herbal preparations in prevention and treatment of the COVID-19 disease [27][28][29][30][31]. This especially concerns the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) which successfully used for clinical treatment of mild, moderate, severe and critical cases and convalescence [32].…”

Efficacy of polyherbal formulations for prevention of COVID‐19 infection in high‐risk subjects: A randomized open‐label controlled clinical trial

“…Interestingly, Glycyrrhiza glabr a is the key ingredient of Infuza polyherbal formulation. Essential oils such as cinnamyl acetate, cinnamaldehyde, carvacrol are the inhibitor of Sars‐Cov2 spike protein (Sharanya, Sabu, & Haridas, 2021 ). Phytochemicals such as curcumin, rosmarinic acid, nigelledine, eugenol, piperine, jansenone, magnoflorine and piperamide are present in Tinospora cordifolia , Eugenia caryophyllata , Nigella sativa , Syzygium aromaticum and Eucalyptus globulus have a binding affinity with COVID‐19 virus/protease and spike proteins leads to boost immunity and decrease the chance of COVID‐19 infection (Alabboud & Javadmanesh, 2020 ; Dev Sharma & Kaur, 2020 ; Koshak & Koshak, 2020 ; Maurya & Sharma, 2020 ; Mohammadi & Shaghaghi, 2020 ).…”

Identification and Pharmacological Activities of Secondary Metabolites of Phytochemicals

“…They have been reported to have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic and neuroprotection [16]. Epigallocatechin-3-gallate, epicatechin gallate and gallocatechin-3-gallate have been reported to have antiviral activities such SARS, SARS-CoV, SAR-CoV and SAR-CoV-2 [17][18][19]. The flavonoids kaempferol, fisetin, quercetin, etc.…”

“…Phytochemicals (lycopene, lutein, curcumin, resveratrol, perillyl alcohol, D-limonene, kaempferol, gingerol, and epigallocatechin-3-gallate etc. ), are rich sources of biochemicals, pharmaceuticals and therapeutics agents with little or no toxicity at low doses and of health benefit for treating and preventing most of diseases such as COVID infection [18,40], coronary heart diseases [41], stroke [6][7], neurodegenerative disorder [24], blood pressure [42][43],…”