Herbal Medicine in Fighting Against COVID-19: New Battle with an Old Weapon

Insilico assessment of hesperidin on SARS-CoV-2 main protease and RNA polymerase: Molecular docking and dynamics simulation approach

The present study uses molecular docking and dynamic simulations to evaluate the inhibitory effect of flavonoid glycosides-based compounds on coronavirus Main protease (Mpro) and RNA polymerase. The Molegro Virtual Docker (MVD) software is utilized to simulate and calculate the binding parameters of compounds with coronavirus. The docking results show that the selected herbal compounds are more effective than those of chemical compounds. It is also revealed that five herbal ligands and two chemical ligands have the best docking scores. Furthermore, a Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulation was conducted for Hesperidin, confirming docking results. Analysis based on different parameters such as Root-mean-square deviation (RMSD), Root mean square fluctuation (RMSF), Radius of gyration (Rg), Solvent accessibility surface area (SASA), and the total number of hydrogen bonds suggests that Hesperidin formed a stable complex with Mpro. Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, Excretion, And Toxicity (ADMET) analysis was performed to compare Hesperidin and Grazoprevir as potential antiviral medicines, evaluating both herbal and chemical ligand results. According to the study, herbal compounds could be effective on coronavirus and are admissible candidates for developing potential operative anti-viral medicines. Hesperidin was found to be the most acceptable interaction. Grazoprevir is an encouraging candidate for drug development and clinical trials, with the potential to become a highly effective Mpro inhibitor. Compared to RNA polymerase, Mpro showed a greater affinity for bonding with Hesperidin. van der Waals and electrostatic energies dominated, creating a stable Hesperidin-Mpro and Hesperidin-RNA polymerase complex.

COVID-19: Recent Insight in Genomic Feature, Pathogenesis, Immunological Biomarkers, Treatment Options and Clinical Updates on SARS-CoV-2

SARS-CoV-2 is a highly contagious and transmissible viral infection that first emerged in 2019 and since then has sparked an epidemic of severe respiratory problems identified as "coronavirus disease 2019" (COVID-19) that causes a hazard to human life and safety. The virus developed mainly from bats. The current epidemic has presented a significant warning to life across the world by showing mutation. There are different tests available for testing Coronavirus, and RT-PCR is the best, giving more accurate results, but it is also time-consuming. There are different options available for treating n-CoV-19, which include medications such as Remdesivir, corticosteroids, plasma therapy, Dexamethasone therapy, etc. The development of vaccines such as BNT126b2, ChAdOX1, mRNA-1273 and BBIBP-CorV has provided great relief in dealing with the virus as they decreased the mortality rate. BNT126b2 and ChAdOX1 are two n-CoV vaccines found to be most effective in controlling the spread of infection. In the future, nanotechnology-based vaccines and immune engineering techniques can be helpful for further research on Coronavirus and treatment of this deadly virus. The existing knowledge about the existence of SARS-CoV-2, along with its variants, is summarized in this review. This review, based on recently published findings, presents the core genetics of COVID-19, including heritable characteristics, pathogenesis, immunological biomarkers, treatment options and clinical updates on the virus, along with patents.

Recent Updates on the Therapeutics Benefits, Clinical Trials, and Novel Delivery Systems of Chlorogenic Acid for the Management of Diseases with a Special Emphasis on Ulcerative Colitis

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a multifactorial disorder of the large intestine, especially the colon, and has become a challenge globally. Allopathic medicines are primarily available for the treatment and prevention of UC. However, their uses are limited due to several side effects. Hence, an alternative therapy is of utmost importance in this regard. Herbal medicines are considered safe and effective for managing human health problems. Chlorogenic acid (CGA), the herbal-derived bioactive, has been reported for pharmacological effects like antiinflammatory, immunomodulatory, antimicrobial, hepatoprotective, antioxidant, anticancer, etc. This review aims to understand the antiinflammatory and chemopreventive potential of CGA against UC. Apart from its excellent therapeutic potential, it has been associated with low absorption and poor oral bioavailability. In this context, colon-specific novel drug delivery systems (NDDS)are pioneering to overcome these problems. The pertinent literature was compiled from a thorough search on various databases such as ScienceDirect, PubMed, Google Scholar, etc., utilizing numerous keywords, including ulcerative colitis, herbal drugs, CGA, pharmacological activities, mechanism of actions, nanoformulations, clinical updates, and many others. Relevant publications accessed till now were chosen, whereas non-relevant papers, unpublished data, and non-original articles were excluded. The present review comprises recent studies on pharmacological activities and novel drug delivery systems of CGA for managing UC. In addition, the clinical trials of CGA against UC have been discussed.

Traditional herbs against COVID-19: back to old weapons to combat the new pandemic

BACKGROUND

Recently, the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is a chief public health disaster caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). There are no established effective preventive or therapeutic anti-COVID-19 drugs available except for some recently approved vaccines. Still, countless recent studies recommend various alternative and complementary approaches against COVID-19, which are medicinal herbs employed as traditional remedies to enhance immunity to struggle with viral infections. In addition, physicians worldwide are highly interested in vitamin and mineral supplements to help them combat COVID-19 either through protection or treatment. Dietary supplements specifically vitamin D, vitamin C, and zinc provide good prophylactic and therapeutic support to the presently available treatment regimens. In the present work, we have focused on plant-based remedies with promising anti-COVID-19 activities.

AIM

To enable investigators and researchers to identify potential herbal compounds with anti-COVID activity to be used as promising therapies to combat this pandemic.

MAIN BODY

This review highlights the recently published studies concerning natural traditional herbs, herbal bioactive metabolites, dietary supplements, and functional foods that could help prevent and/or treat COVID-19. Herein, we explored medicinal herbs as potential inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 and discussed how these studies help form larger discussions of diet and disease. Moreover, by investigating the herbal bioactive components, we have outlined several medicinal herbs that can fight against COVID-19 by hindering SARS-CoV-2 replication and entry to its host cells, deterring the cytokine storm, and several other means. Finally, we have summarized various herbal products, functional foods, and dietary supplements with potent bioactive compounds which can inhibit and/or prevent COVID-19 disease progression.

CONCLUSIONS

Based on the studies reviewed in this work, it was concluded with no doubt that phytochemical components present in various herbs could have a starring role in the deterrence and cure of coronavirus contagion.

Molecular Docking and In-Silico Analysis of Natural Biomolecules against Dengue, Ebola, Zika, SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern and Monkeypox Virus

The emergence and rapid evolution of human pathogenic viruses, combined with the difficulties in developing effective vaccines, underline the need to develop innovative broad-spectrum antiviral therapeutic agents. The present study aims to determine the in silico antiviral potential of six bacterial antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), two phytochemicals (silvestrol, andrographolide), and two bacterial secondary metabolites (lyngbyabellin A, hapalindole H) against dengue virus, Zika virus, Ebola virus, the major variants of SARS-CoV-2 and monkeypox virus. The comparison of docking scores obtained with natural biomolecules was performed with specific neutralizing antibodies (positive controls for ClusPro) and antiviral drugs (negative controls for Autodock Vina). Glycocin F was the only natural biomolecule tested to show high binding energies to all viral surface proteins and the corresponding viral cell receptors. Lactococcin G and plantaricin ASM1 also achieved high docking scores with all viral surface proteins and most corresponding cell surface receptors. Silvestrol, andrographolide, hapalindole H, and lyngbyabellin A showed variable docking scores depending on the viral surface proteins and cell receptors tested. Three glycocin F mutants with amino acid modifications showed an increase in their docking energy to the spike proteins of SARS-CoV-2 B.1.617.2 Indian variant, and of the SARS-CoV-2 P.1 Japan/Brazil variant, and the dengue DENV envelope protein. All mutant AMPs indicated a frequent occurrence of valine and proline amino acid rotamers. AMPs and glycocin F in particular are the most promising biomolecules for the development of broad-spectrum antiviral treatments targeting the attachment and entry of viruses into their target cell.

In Silico and In Vitro Studies of Alchemilla viridiflora Rothm-Polyphenols' Potential for Inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 Internalization

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been obvious that virus infection poses a serious threat to human health on a global scale. Certain plants, particularly those rich in polyphenols, have been found to be effective antiviral agents. The effectiveness of Alchemilla viridiflora Rothm. (Rosaceae) methanol extract to prevent contact between virus spike (S)-glycoprotein and angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and neuropilin-1 (NRP1) receptors was investigated. In vitro results revealed that the tested samples inhibited 50% of virus-receptor binding interactions in doses of 0.18 and 0.22 mg/mL for NRP1 and ACE2, respectively. Molecular docking studies revealed that the compounds from A. viridiflora ellagitannins class had a higher affinity for binding with S-glycoprotein whilst flavonoid compounds more significantly interacted with the NRP1 receptor. Quercetin 3-(6″-ferulylglucoside) and pentagalloylglucose were two compounds with the highest exhibited interfering potential for selected target receptors, with binding energies of −8.035 (S-glycoprotein) and −7.685 kcal/mol (NRP1), respectively. Furthermore, computational studies on other SARS-CoV-2 strains resulting from mutations in the original wild strain (V483A, N501Y-K417N-E484K, N501Y, N439K, L452R-T478K, K417N, G476S, F456L, E484K) revealed that virus internalization activity was maintained, but with different single compound contributions.

In silico bioprospecting of taraxerol as a main protease inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2 to develop therapy against COVID-19

COVID-19 was caused by a novel coronavirus known as SARS-CoV-2. The COVID-19 disease outbreak has been avowed as a global pandemic by the World Health Organization at the end of March 2020. It leads to the global economic crash, resulting in the starvation of a large population belonging to economically backward countries. Hence, the development of an alternative medicine along with the vaccine is of the utmost importance for the management of COVID-19. Therefore, screening of several herbal leads was performed to explore their potential against SARS-CoV-2. Furthermore, viral main protease was selected as a key enzyme for performing the study. Various computational approaches, including molecular docking simulation, were used in the current study to find potential inhibitors of viral main protease from a library of 150 herbal leads. Toxicity and ADME prediction of selected molecules were also analysed by Osiris molecular property explorer software. Molecular dynamic simulation of the top 10 docked herbal leads was analysed for stability using 100 ns. Taraxerol (−10.17 kcal/mol), diosgenin (10.12 kcal/mol), amyrin (−9.56 kcal/mol), and asiaticoside (−9.54 kcal/mol) were among the top four herbal leads with the highest binding affinity with the main protease enzyme. Thus, taraxerol was found to be an effective drug candidate against the main protease enzyme for the management of COVID-19. Furthermore, its clinical effect and safety profile need to be established through an in vivo model.

Effect of Calamintha officinalis on Vascular Contractility and Angiotensinconverting Enzyme-2

AIMS

The study aimed to assess the antihypertensive activity of Calamintha officinalis.

BACKGROUND

Calamintha officinalis (CO) is a medicinal and aromatic herb as well as an antihypertensive plant that is widely used for its medicinal properties in several regions.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of the aqueous extract of Calamintha officinalis (AECO) on vasorelaxant activity and arterial blood pressure under normal and hypertensive states in rats. Additionally, the effect of AECO on vascular angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE-2) was assessed.

METHODS

In the current study, AECO (100 mg/Kg) was prepared, and its antihypertensive ability was assessed in L-N^G-Nitro arginine methyl ester (L-NAME)-induced hypertensive rats. Blood pressure and heart rate were recorded for 6 h for the acute experiment and during seven days for the subchronic treatment.

RESULTS

The results indicated that AECO reduced the systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial blood pressure in hypertensive rats. In addition, the study showed that AECO exerts a vasorelaxant ability through the sGC-cGMP induction pathway, vascular cyclooxygenase pathway, and the opening of K+ channels. However, AECO had no inhibitory effect on aortic ACE-2.

CONCLUSION

The study illustrates the beneficial action of AECO as an antihypertensive and vasorelaxant agent.