Traditional Medicinal Plants as the Potential Adjuvant, Prophylactic and Treatment Therapy for COVID-19 Disease: A Review

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a respiratory disease caused by a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). In an effort to combat the pandemic caused by COVID-19 disease, researchers have identified several traditional medicinal plants (TMPs) as potential adjuvant, prophylactic, and treatment for COVID-19. TMPs reported in this paper were identified based on the findings of molecular docking research and the documented traditional use of these plants for COVID-19-related symptoms, such as fever, coughing, headaches, and tiredness. Secondary metabolites with antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory activity against various SARS-CoV-2 proteases were also identified from the list of South African medicinal plants. This review discusses secondary metabolites of TMPs with pharmacological benefits, which contribute to the management of COVID-19, and these include Acacia Senegal, Artemisia afra, Aspalathus linearis, Clerodendrum splendens, Dioscorea batatas decne, Echinacea purpurea, Hypoxis hemerocallidea, Xysmalobium undulatum, Tinospora crispa, Sutherladia frutescens, and Zingiber officinale.

A Review of South African Traditional Medicinal Plants Used for Treating Fungal Coinfections in COVID-19 Patients with Respiratory Diseases

“…Artemisia afra Jacq. ex Willd (Figure 1), also known as Wilde als in Afrikaans, African wormwood in English, Lengana in Sesotho, Umhlonyane in isiXhosa, and Mhlonyane in isiZulu, is a South African medicinal plant commonly used to treat respiratory symptoms and conditions such as bronchitis, asthma, colds, coughs, fever, pneumonia, sore throat, chills, whooping cough and headache [6,19,28,30,31]. A. afra is also used in combination with other TMPs such as E. globulus and Lippia asperifolia as prophylaxis for lung inflammation and to treat influenza [28].…”

“…Concurrently occurring coinfections pose a massive challenge because it complicates diagnoses and COVID-19 management [3]. COVID-19 by severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) [1][2][3][4] causes respiratory symptoms such as shortness of breath, fever, fatigue, runny nose, headache, chest pain, congestion, anosmia, ageusia, sore throat, confusion, and vomiting [3,5,6], similar to those caused by Aspergillus, Candida, and Cryptococcus species infections [3]. An estimated 15% of COVID-19 patients admitted to the hospital's intensive care units (ICU) become coinfected by Aspergillus [7].…”