Similarity and Specificity of Traditional Chinese Medicine Formulas for Management of Coronavirus Disease 2019 and Rheumatoid Arthritis

The Ethanol Extract of Evodiae Fructus and Its Ingredient, Rutaecarpine, Inhibit Infection of SARS-CoV-2 and Inflammatory Responses

COVID-19, derived from SARS-CoV-2, has resulted in millions of deaths and caused unprecedented socioeconomic damage since its outbreak in 2019. Although the vaccines developed against SARS-CoV-2 provide some protection, they have unexpected side effects in some people. Furthermore, new viral mutations reduce the effectiveness of the current vaccines. Thus, there is still an urgent need to develop potent non-vaccine therapeutics against this infectious disease. We recently established a series of detecting platforms to screen a large library of Chinese medicinal herbs and phytochemicals. Here, we reveal that the ethanolic extract of Evodiae Fructus and one of its components, rutaecarpine, showed promising potency in inhibiting the activity of 3C-like (3CL) protease, blocking the entry of the pseudo-typed SARS-CoV-2 (including wild-type and omicron) into cultured cells. In addition, inflammatory responses induced by pseudo-typed SARS-CoV-2 were markedly reduced by Evodiae Fructus extract and rutaecarpine. Together our data indicate that the herbal extract of Evodiae Fructus and rutaecarpine are potent anti-SARS-CoV-2 agents, which might be considered as a treatment against COVID-19 in clinical applications.

Molecular docking and molecular dynamics study Lianhua Qingwen granules (LHQW) treats COVID-19 by inhibiting inflammatory response and regulating cell survival

Purpose

2019 Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is endangering health of populations worldwide. Latest research has proved that Lianhua Qingwen granules (LHQW) can reduce tissue damage caused by inflammatory reactions and relieve patients' clinical symptoms. However, the mechanism of LHQW treats COVID-19 is currently lacking. Therefore, we employed computer simulations to investigate the mechanism of LHQW treats COVID-19 by modulating inflammatory response.

Methods

We employed bioinformatics to screen active ingredients in LHQW and intersection gene targets. PPI, GO and KEGG was used to analyze relationship of intersection gene targets. Molecular dynamics simulations validated the binding stability of active ingredients and target proteins. Binding free energy, radius of gyration and the solvent accessible surface area were analyzed by supercomputer platform.

Results

COVID-19 had 4628 gene targets, LHQW had 1409 gene targets, intersection gene targets were 415. Bioinformatics analysis showed that intersection targets were closely related to inflammation and immunomodulatory. Molecular docking suggested that active ingredients (including: licopyranocoumarin, Glycyrol and 3-3-Oxopropanoic acid) in LHQW played a role in treating COVID-19 by acting on CSF2, CXCL8, CCR5, NLRP3, IFNG and TNF. Molecular dynamics was used to prove the binding stability of active ingredients and protein targets.

Conclusion

The mechanism of active ingredients in LHQW treats COVID-19 was investigated by computer simulations. We found that active ingredients in LHQW not only reduce cell damage and tissue destruction by inhibiting the inflammatory response through CSF2, CXCL8, CCR5 and IFNG, but also regulate cell survival and growth through NLRP3 and TNF thereby reducing apoptosis.

Immunometabolism at the service of traditional Chinese medicine

To enhance therapeutic efficacy and reduce adverse effects, ancient practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) prescribe combinations of plant species/animal species and minerals designated "TCM formulae" developed based on TCM theory and clinical experience. TCM formulae have been shown to exert curative effects on complex diseases via immune regulation but the underlying mechanisms remain unknown at present. Considerable progress in the field of immunometabolism, referring to alterations in the intracellular metabolism of immune cells that regulate their function, has been made over the past decade. The core context of immunometabolism is regulation of the allocation of metabolic resources supporting host defense and survival, which provides a critical additional dimension and emerging insights into how the immune system and metabolism influence each other during disease progression. This review summarizes research findings on the significant association between the immune function and metabolic remodeling in health and disease as well as the therapeutic modulatory effects of TCM formulae on immunometabolism. Progressive elucidation of the immunometabolic mechanisms involved during the course of TCM treatment continues to aid in the identification of novel potential targets against pathogenicity. In this report, we have provided a comprehensive overview of the benefits of TCM based on regulation of immunometabolism that are potentially applicable for the treatment of modern diseases.

Research progress of traditional Chinese medicine against COVID-19

BACKGROUND

Currently, the number of confirmed cases and deaths of COVID-19 worldwide continues to rise, receiving great concern from the international community. However, there is no specific and widely accepted effective vaccines. The experience in controlling the outbreak in China has proven the effectiveness of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).

OBJECTIVES

This review aims to evaluate the role of TCM in COVID-19 treatment, hoping to provide references for prevention and control of global pandemic.

DATA SOURCES

China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Web of Science, Baidu Scholar, ScienceDirect, Elsevier and PubMed were used to search literatures published from December 2019 to December 2020 by entering the keywords "Traditional Chinese medicine", "COVID-19″, "Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2″, "Pathogenesis", "Syndrome differentiation", "Prescriptions" and their combinations. Hence, we have performed an extensive review of research articles, reviews and primary scientific studies to identify TCM against COVID-19.

RESULTS

Among clinical treatments of COVID-19, several TCM prescriptions and characteristic therapies have been effectively suggested, the underlying mechanisms of which are mainly involved in antiviral, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory and organ-protective effects of multi-components acting on multi-targets at multi-pathways.

CONCLUSIONS

This review may provide meaningful and feasible information that can be considered for the treatment of COVID-19 pandemic globally.