The Scientific Foundation of Chinese Herbal Medicine against COVID-19

Abstract

The recent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak has caused a serious global health emergency. Supporting evidence shows that COVID-19 shares a genomic similarity with other coronaviruses, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), and that the pathogenesis and treatment strategies that were applied 17 years ago in combating SARS-CoV and other viral infections could be taken as references in today’s antiviral battle. According to the clinical pathological features of COVID-19 patients, patients can suffer from five steps of progression, starting with severe viral infection and suppression of the immune system and eventually progressing to cytokine storm, multi-organ damage, and lung fibrosis, which is the cause of mortality. Therefore, early prevention of disease progression is important. However, no specific effective drugs and vaccination are currently available, and the World Health Organization is urging the development of novel prevention and treatment strategies. Traditional Chinese medicine could be used as an alternative treatment option or in combination with Western medicine to treat COVID-19, due to its basis on historical experience and holistic pharmacological action. Here, we summarize the potential uses and therapeutic mechanisms of Chinese herbal formulas (CHFs) from the reported literature, along with patent drugs that have been recommended by institutions at the national and provincial levels in China, in order to verify their scientific foundations for treating COVID-19. In perspective, more basic and clinical studies with multiple high-tech and translational technologies are suggested to further confirm the therapeutic efficacies of CHFs.

Traditional Chinese medicine in COVID-19

“…The main patterns in mild stage are cold‒damp constraint and damp‒heat accumulation in the lung, where dispersing lung and removing pathogenic factors, and resolve turbidity with aroma are needed; The main patterns in moderate stage are damp‒toxin constraint in the lung and cold‒damp obstructing the lung, where eliminating heat and dampness, detoxification, and invigorate spleen are needed; The main patterns in severe stage are epidemic toxin blocking the lung, blazing of both qi and yin , where tonifying qi and yin , ventilating lung qi , co-treatment of lung and intestines are needed. The main patterns in critical stage are internal blockage and external desertion, where tonifying qi and preventing exhaustion, cool blood and nourishing yin , and restore consciousness are needed 13 , 14 , 15 . Syndrome differentiation is one of the most important principles for TCM to treat COVID-19.…”

Fluorescence of ocular surface in a Covid -19 patient after Favipiravir treatment: a case report

“…The new coronavirus disease was termed as the “COVID-19” [ 1 ]. In a previous controlled trial, Favipiravir showed better treatment outcomes in COVID-19 patients in terms of disease progression and viral clearance [ 2 ]. The results of systematic review and meta-analysis showed that patients had clinical and radiological improvements following the treatment with Favipiravir [ 3 ].…”

Chinese herbal medicine: Fighting SARS-CoV-2 infection on all fronts

“…The outstanding performance of Chinese herbal medicine, especially in mainland China, has led to the publication of several interesting reviews on COVID-19 from the perspectives of clinical experience ( Lee et al, 2020 ; Shu et al, 2020 ; Zhuang et al, 2020 ), scientific foundation ( Leung et al, 2020 ), efficacy and safety ( Li et al, 2020f ), pros and cons ( Nugraha et al, 2020 ; López-Alcalde et al, 2020 ) and meta-analysis ( Fan et al, 2020 ; Xiong et al, 2020b ; Luo et al, 2020a ). However, as yet, there has been no hierarchical (active ingredients, monomer preparations, crude extracts, and formulas) review covering the use of Chinese herbal medicine for the treatment of COVID-19 that covers both in vitro research and clinical practice.…”