Essential Oils and COVID-19

Abstract

Herbal products are a major source of herbal medicines and other medicines. Essential oils have shown various pharmacological activities, such as antiviral activity, and therefore are proposed to have potential activity against SARS-CoV-2. Due to their lipophilicity, essential oils can easily penetrate the viral membrane and cause the viral membrane to rupture. In addition, crude essential oils usually have many active constituents that can act on different parts of the virus including its cell entry, translation, transcription, and assembly. They have further beneficial pharmacological effects on the host’s respiratory system, including anti-inflammatory, immune regulation, bronchiectasis, and mucolytics. This review reported potential essential oils which could be promising drugs for COVID-19 eradication. Essential oils have many advantages because they are promising volatile antiviral molecules, making them potential drug targets for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19, whether used alone or in combination with other chemotherapeutic drugs. The aim of the current review is to shed light on the potential essential oils against enveloped viruses and their proposed activity against SARS-CoV-2 which is also an enveloped virus. The objectives were to present all data reflecting the promising activities of diverse essential oils against enveloped viruses and how they could contribute to the eradication of COVID disease, especially in indoor places. The data collected for the current review were obtained through the SciFinder database, Google scholar, PubMed, and Mendeley database. The data of the current review focused on the most common essential oils which are available in the pharmaceutical market and showed noticeable activities against enveloped viruses such as HSV and influenza.

Strictinin, a Major Ingredient in Yunnan Kucha Tea Possessing Inhibitory Activity on the Infection of Mouse Hepatitis Virus to Mouse L Cells

“…Therefore, natural compounds in herbs seem to be rich sources for screening potential drugs against coronaviruses. As expected, several herbal medicines as well as isolated compounds in herbs have been reported to possess inhibitory activities against SARS-CoV-2 in the past few years [ 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 ]. Although herbal medicines and their isolated compounds are not as effective as chemical antiviral drugs, they are empirically safe for the human body, particularly after long-term consumption.…”

Blood pH and COVID‐19

“…During the coronavirus crisis, food supplements such as malate and citrate salts and vitamin C, Zn, Cu, Ca, Mg, and K have proven to have positive effects on the body's metabolism by reducing blood acidity and thus boosting immunity, for example, plants' malate and citrate are metabolized into HCO 3 − ; vitamin C is an essential component for collagen synthesis in osteoclasts. [ 61,140,141 ]…”

“…During the coronavirus crisis, food supplements such as malate and citrate salts and vitamin C, Zn, Cu, Ca, Mg, and K have proven to have positive effects on the body's metabolism by reducing blood acidity and thus boosting immunity, for example, plants' malate and citrate are metabolized into HCO 3 − ; vitamin C is an essential component for collagen synthesis in osteoclasts. [61,140,141] • Which is better, staying at home and breathing nonfresh air, or staying in a garden and breathing fresh air, or staying on the beach? One way to increase the oxygen content of our bodies is to breathe in fresh air, in particular, the ozone before sunrise, which clears acidosis and restores the alkaline state and supports the exhausted immunity.…”

Chemical Profiling and Biological Properties of Essential Oils of Lavandula stoechas L. Collected from Three Moroccan Sites: In Vitro and In Silico Investigations

“…Molecular modeling is an interesting in silico tool used to determine the stability of compounds and the interaction types responsible for antiviral biological activity. Different EO studies revealed antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2 [ 29 , 30 , 31 ]. Two different software were used: Surflex-Dock and UCSF chimera in UCSF Chimera 1.13.1 [ 32 , 33 ].…”