Medicinal Plants with Potential Inhibitory Bioactive Compounds against Coronaviruses

Abstract

Medicinal plant is a major source of drug discovery for disease management. Over 85% of the population in Asia and in the Middle East use herbal medicine for disease management such as SARS caused by coronavirus. Infection from coronavirus is initiated by entry of the virus into a susceptible host cell. The two human coronaviruses of public health importance two decades ago were SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV and now SARS-CoV 2. These three viruses belong to the same class of beta coronavirus and are somewhat similar in genome sequencing, life cycle, mode of entry into a host, mode of transmission and clinical manifestations. This review identified twenty medicinal plants with potential inhibitory bioactive compounds from natural sources that are active against coronaviruses that could be developed into various drug delivery systems. It also highlighted several evidences to show that medicinal plant used in the treatment of SARS-CoV may offer some sort of relief from the burden of COVID 19 pandemic. Since there is no specific treatment for COVID 19 yet, the search for medicinal plants with inhibitory bioactive compounds against coronavirus could be the long awaited breakthrough scientists have been searching to change the narratives of Covid-19 pandemic.

Lancemaside A from Codonopsis lanceolata: Studies on Antiviral Activity and Mechanism of Action against SARS-CoV-2 and Its Variants of Concern

“…Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous single herbs and herbal formulations as well as single compounds isolated from the herbal extracts have been reported to exhibit significant anti-SARS-CoV-2 effects through the inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 life cycle by targeting viral proteins, such as 3CLpro, PLpro, RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), and S protein, and cellular proteins such as ACE2, cathepsin L, and TMPRSS2 ( 39 – 41 ). Saponins, including triterpenoid saponins derived from various medicinal plants, have also been investigated for their therapeutic potential against SARS-CoV-2 ( 42 ).…”

Lancemaside A from Codonopsis lanceolata is a broad-spectrum antiviral agent against SARS-CoV-2 and variants of concern

“…Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous single herbs and herbal formulations as well as single compounds isolated from the herbal extracts have been reported to exhibit significant anti-SARS-CoV-2 effects through the inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 life cycle by targeting viral proteins such as 3CLpro, PLpro, RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), and S protein, and cellular proteins such as ACE2, cathepsin L, and TMPRSS2 (Adeleye et al, 2022;Benarba & Pandiella, 2020;Lee, Park & Cho, 2022). Saponins including triterpenoid saponins derived from various medicinal plants have also been investigated for their therapeutic potential against SARS-CoV-2 (Ebob, Babiaka & Ntie-Kang, 2021).…”

Immunomodulatory effects of new phytotherapy on human macrophages and TLR4- and TLR7/8-mediated viral-like inflammation in mice

“…The drops of the IP were administered orally (120 μL per day) for each mouse during the morning hours using a pipette ( 26 , 36 ). A composition of a 30% alcohol IP solution can be found in a Supplementary Table 1 .…”

“…At the same time, in the literature, the beneficial effects of herbal medicine combined with traditional medicine in SARS patients were demonstrated ( 4 – 6 , 25 – 27 ), giving hope that therapeutically effective herbal compositions might combat the severe course of SARS-CoV-2. In addition, animal studies suggested possible mechanisms of anti-inflammatory immunomodulatory effects of medicinal herbs that target inflammatory pathways of TLRs-induced mechanisms, e.g., polysaccharides from red seaweed suppressed the expression of TNF, receptor-associated factor-6 in a model of LPS-induced toxicity ( 26 ), the use of vanilla extract suppressed free radical production in a mouse model of cancer ( 28 , 29 ), ginger phenolics decreased lipid peroxidation and oxidative stress in rats ( 30 ). Our recent studies with a mouse ultrasound model of “emotional stress” have shown the beneficial action of herbal compositions with anti-inflammatory properties on the oxidative stress markers malondialdehyde and protein carbonyl and the expression of IL-1β and IL-6 ( 31 , 32 ).…”