Virtual screening of functional foods and dissecting their roles in modulating gene functions to support post COVID‐19 complications

Abstract

COVID‐19 has become the focal point since 2019 after the outbreak of coronavirus disease. Many drugs are being tested and used to treat coronavirus infections; different kinds of vaccines are also introduced as preventive measure. Alternative therapeutics are as well incorporated into the health guidelines of some countries. This research aimed to look into the underlying mechanisms of functional foods and how they may improve the long‐term post COVID‐19 cardiovascular, diabetic, and respiratory complications through their bioactive compounds. The potentiality of nine functional foods for post COVID‐19 complications was investigated through computational approaches. A total of 266 bioactive compounds of these foods were searched via extensive literature reviewing. Three highly associated targets namely troponin I interacting kinase (TNNI3K), dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP‐4), and transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF‐β1) were selected for cardiovascular, diabetes, and respiratory disorders, respectively, after COVID‐19 infections. Best docked compounds were further analyzed by network pharmacological tools to explore their interactions with complication‐related genes (MAPK1 and HSP90AA1 for cardiovascular, PPARG and TNF‐alpha for diabetes, and AKT‐1 for respiratory disorders). Seventy‐one suggested compounds out of one‐hundred and thirty‐nine (139) docked compounds in network pharmacology recommended 169 Gene Ontology (GO) items and 99 Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes signaling pathways preferably AKT signaling pathway, MAPK signaling pathway, ACE2 receptor signaling pathway, insulin signaling pathway, and PPAR signaling pathway. Among the chosen functional foods, black cumin, fenugreek, garlic, ginger, turmeric, bitter melon, and Indian pennywort were found to modulate the actions. Results demonstrate that aforesaid functional foods have attenuating roles to manage post COVID‐19 complications. Practical applications Functional foods have been approaching a greater interest due to their medicinal uses other than gastronomic pleasure. Nine functional food resources have been used in this research for their traditional and ethnopharmacological uses, but their directive‐role in modulating the genes involved in the management of post COVID‐19 complications is inadequately studied and reported. Therefore, the foods types used in this research may be prioritized to be used as functional foods for ameliorating the major post COVID‐19 complications through appropriate science.

Potential pharmacological mechanisms of four active compounds of Macleaya cordata extract against enteritis based on network pharmacology and molecular docking technology

“…These results suggest that the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway plays a regulatory role in enteritis, which is consistent with our network pharmacological prediction. The MAPK signaling pathway is involved in various biological processes such as immunity, stress, cell growth, apoptosis, and differentiation, and it plays a key role in the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines ( Luo et al, 2020 ; Afroz et al, 2021 ). The MAPK family includes three subfamilies, namely, ERK, JNK, and p38 MAPK, which are associated with intestinal mucosal injury and are activated in inflammatory bowel disease to induce the release of cytokines such as IL-8 ( Luo et al, 2020 ).…”

Mit Schwarzkümmel gegen SARS-CoV-2

“…Konfirmatorische Studien müssen nun die Wirksamkeit von Zubereitungen aus dem Schwarzkümmel bei SARS-CoV-2-Infektionen bestätigen und die Wirkgröße definieren. Computersimulationen zeigen, dass viele Pflanzenstoffe mit den Zielgenen der Signalwege interagieren können 1 2 . Da Polyphenole und andere Pflanzenstoffe die SARS-CoV-2-Infektion simultan über mehrere Signalwege bekämpfen, wird vermutet, dass mit einer optimalen Kombination von Wirkstoffen die effektivste Behandlungsstrategie erzielt werden kann 10 .…”

Food nutrients as inherent sources of immunomodulation during COVID-19 pandemic

“…These foods can help patients in improving the post COVID-19 complications alongside therapy. Afroz et al (2021) listed potential functional food such as Indian pennywort, ginger, turmeric, black cumin, tomato, fenugreek, fish oil, garlic, momordica (bitter gourd), peppermint and pumpkin having potential to improve health against disease like cardiovascular, respiratory and nephrological complications which are the complications of post COVID-19 infections. The extract of Indian pennywort can be helpful for diabetic patients having post COVID-19 complications.…”