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Xia B, Zheng L, Li Y, Sun W, Liu Y, Li L, Pang J, Chen J, Li J, Cheng H. The brief overview, antivirus and anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity, quantitative methods, and pharmacokinetics of cepharanthine: a potential small-molecule drug against COVID-19. Front Pharmacol 2023; 14:1098972. [PMID: 37583901 PMCID: PMC10423819 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2023.1098972] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2022] [Accepted: 07/11/2023] [Indexed: 08/17/2023] Open
Abstract
To effectively respond to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), an increasing number of researchers are focusing on the antiviral activity of cepharanthine (CEP), which is a clinically approved drug being used for over 70 years. This review aims to provide a brief overview of CEP and summarize its recent findings in quantitative analysis, pharmacokinetics, therapeutic potential, and mechanism in antiviral and anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity. Given its remarkable capacity against SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro and in vivo, with its primary target organ being the lungs, and its good pharmacokinetic profile; mature and stable manufacturing technique; and its advantages of safety, effectiveness, and accessibility, CEP has become a promising drug candidate for treating COVID-19 despite being an old drug.
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Affiliation(s)
- Binbin Xia
- Department of Pharmacy, Beijing Luhe Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Li Zheng
- Department of Pharmacy, China Aerospace Science & Industry Corporation 731 Hospital, Beijing, China
| | - Yali Li
- Department of Pharmacy, Beijing Luhe Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Wenfang Sun
- Department of Pharmacy, Beijing Luhe Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Yang Liu
- Department of Pharmacy, Beijing Luhe Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Liushui Li
- Department of Pharmacy, Beijing Luhe Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Jingyao Pang
- Department of Pharmacy, Beijing Luhe Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Jing Chen
- Department of Pharmacy, Beijing Luhe Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Jiaxin Li
- Department of Pharmacy, Beijing Hospital, National Center of Gerontology, Beijing, China
| | - Hua Cheng
- Department of Pharmacy, Beijing Luhe Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
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Liu K, Hong B, Wang S, Lou F, You Y, Hu R, Shafqat A, Fan H, Tong Y. Pharmacological Activity of Cepharanthine. Molecules 2023; 28:5019. [PMID: 37446681 DOI: 10.3390/molecules28135019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2023] [Revised: 06/16/2023] [Accepted: 06/20/2023] [Indexed: 07/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Cepharanthine, a natural bisbenzylisoquinoline (BBIQ) alkaloid isolated from the plant Stephania Cephalantha Hayata, is the only bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloid approved for human use and has been used in the clinic for more than 70 years. Cepharanthine has a variety of medicinal properties, including signaling pathway inhibitory activities, immunomodulatory activities, and antiviral activities. Recently, cepharanthine has been confirmed to greatly inhibit SARS-CoV-2 infection. Therefore, we aimed to describe the pharmacological properties and mechanisms of cepharanthine, mainly including antitumor, anti-inflammatory, anti-pathogen activities, inhibition of bone resorption, treatment of alopecia, treatment of snake bite, and other activities. At the same time, we analyzed and summarized the potential antiviral mechanism of cepharanthine and concluded that one of the most important anti-viral mechanisms of cepharanthine may be the stability of plasma membrane fluidity. Additionally, we explained its safety and bioavailability, which provides evidence for cepharanthine as a potential drug for the treatment of a variety of diseases. Finally, we further discuss the potential new clinical applications of cepharanthine and provide direction for its future development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ke Liu
- College of Life Science and Technology, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China
| | - Bixia Hong
- College of Life Science and Technology, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China
| | - Shuqi Wang
- College of Life Science and Technology, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China
| | - Fuxing Lou
- College of Life Science and Technology, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China
| | - Yecheng You
- College of Life Science and Technology, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China
| | - Ruolan Hu
- College of Life Science and Technology, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China
| | - Amna Shafqat
- College of Life Science and Technology, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China
| | - Huahao Fan
- College of Life Science and Technology, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China
| | - Yigang Tong
- College of Life Science and Technology, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China
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Gupta Y, Savytskyi OV, Coban M, Venugopal A, Pleqi V, Weber CA, Chitale R, Durvasula R, Hopkins C, Kempaiah P, Caulfield TR. Protein structure-based in-silico approaches to drug discovery: Guide to COVID-19 therapeutics. Mol Aspects Med 2023; 91:101151. [PMID: 36371228 PMCID: PMC9613808 DOI: 10.1016/j.mam.2022.101151] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2022] [Revised: 10/19/2022] [Accepted: 10/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
With more than 5 million fatalities and close to 300 million reported cases, COVID-19 is the first documented pandemic due to a coronavirus that continues to be a major health challenge. Despite being rapid, uncontrollable, and highly infectious in its spread, it also created incentives for technology development and redefined public health needs and research agendas to fast-track innovations to be translated. Breakthroughs in computational biology peaked during the pandemic with renewed attention to making all cutting-edge technology deliver agents to combat the disease. The demand to develop effective treatments yielded surprising collaborations from previously segregated fields of science and technology. The long-standing pharmaceutical industry's aversion to repurposing existing drugs due to a lack of exponential financial gain was overrun by the health crisis and pressures created by front-line researchers and providers. Effective vaccine development even at an unprecedented pace took more than a year to develop and commence trials. Now the emergence of variants and waning protections during the booster shots is resulting in breakthrough infections that continue to strain health care systems. As of now, every protein of SARS-CoV-2 has been structurally characterized and related host pathways have been extensively mapped out. The research community has addressed the druggability of a multitude of possible targets. This has been made possible due to existing technology for virtual computer-assisted drug development as well as new tools and technologies such as artificial intelligence to deliver new leads. Here in this article, we are discussing advances in the drug discovery field related to target-based drug discovery and exploring the implications of known target-specific agents on COVID-19 therapeutic management. The current scenario calls for more personalized medicine efforts and stratifying patient populations early on for their need for different combinations of prognosis-specific therapeutics. We intend to highlight target hotspots and their potential agents, with the ultimate goal of using rational design of new therapeutics to not only end this pandemic but also uncover a generalizable platform for use in future pandemics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yash Gupta
- Department of Medicine, Infectious Diseases, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, USA
| | - Oleksandr V Savytskyi
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, USA; In Vivo Biosystems, Eugene, OR, USA
| | - Matt Coban
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, USA; Department of Cancer Biology, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, USA
| | | | - Vasili Pleqi
- Department of Medicine, Infectious Diseases, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, USA
| | - Caleb A Weber
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, USA
| | - Rohit Chitale
- Department of Medicine, Infectious Diseases, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, USA; The Council on Strategic Risks, 1025 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Ravi Durvasula
- Department of Medicine, Infectious Diseases, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, USA
| | | | - Prakasha Kempaiah
- Department of Medicine, Infectious Diseases, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, USA
| | - Thomas R Caulfield
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, USA; Department of QHS Computational Biology, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, USA; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA; Department of Clinical Genomics, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA; Department of Neurosurgery, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, USA.
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Liang D, Wang W, Chen G, Li J, Dou G, Gan H, Han P, Du L, Gu R. Cepharanthine Dry Powder Inhaler for the Treatment of Acute Lung Injury. Molecules 2023; 28:molecules28114441. [PMID: 37298919 DOI: 10.3390/molecules28114441] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2023] [Revised: 05/17/2023] [Accepted: 05/24/2023] [Indexed: 06/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) induces a severe cytokine storm that may cause acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome (ALI/ARDS) with high clinical morbidity and mortality in infected individuals. Cepharanthine (CEP) is a bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloid isolated and extracted from Stephania cepharantha Hayata. It exhibits various pharmacological effects, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, anti-tumor, and antiviral activities. The low oral bioavailability of CEP can be attributed to its poor water solubility. In this study, we utilized the freeze-drying method to prepare dry powder inhalers (DPI) for the treatment of acute lung injury (ALI) in rats via pulmonary administration. According to the powder properties study, the aerodynamic median diameter (Da) of the DPIs was 3.2 μm, and the in vitro lung deposition rate was 30.26; thus, meeting the Chinese Pharmacopoeia standard for pulmonary inhalation administration. We established an ALI rat model by intratracheal injection of hydrochloric acid (1.2 mL/kg, pH = 1.25). At 1 h after the model's establishment, CEP dry powder inhalers (CEP DPIs) (30 mg/kg) were sprayed into the lungs of rats with ALI via the trachea. Compared with the model group, the treatment group exhibited a reduced pulmonary edema and hemorrhage, and significantly reduced content of inflammatory factors (TNF-α, IL-6 and total protein) in their lungs (p < 0.01), indicating that the main mechanism of CEP underlying the treatment of ALI is anti-inflammation. Overall, the dry powder inhaler can deliver the drug directly to the site of the disease, increasing the intrapulmonary utilization of CEP and improving its efficacy, making it a promising inhalable formulation for the treatment of ALI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Di Liang
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Beijing Institute of Radiation Medicine, Beijing 100850, China
| | - Wanmei Wang
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Beijing Institute of Radiation Medicine, Beijing 100850, China
| | - Guangrui Chen
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Beijing Institute of Radiation Medicine, Beijing 100850, China
| | - Jian Li
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Beijing Institute of Radiation Medicine, Beijing 100850, China
| | - Guifang Dou
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Beijing Institute of Radiation Medicine, Beijing 100850, China
| | - Hui Gan
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Beijing Institute of Radiation Medicine, Beijing 100850, China
| | - Peng Han
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Beijing Institute of Radiation Medicine, Beijing 100850, China
| | - Lina Du
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Beijing Institute of Radiation Medicine, Beijing 100850, China
| | - Ruolan Gu
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Beijing Institute of Radiation Medicine, Beijing 100850, China
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Chen G, Li J, Liu H, Zhou H, Liu M, Liang D, Meng Z, Gan H, Wu Z, Zhu X, Han P, Liu T, Gu R, Liu S, Dou G. Cepharanthine Ameliorates Pulmonary Fibrosis by Inhibiting the NF-κB/NLRP3 Pathway, Fibroblast-to-Myofibroblast Transition and Inflammation. MOLECULES (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2023; 28:molecules28020753. [PMID: 36677811 PMCID: PMC9864377 DOI: 10.3390/molecules28020753] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2022] [Revised: 12/27/2022] [Accepted: 01/06/2023] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is one of the sequelae of Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), and currently, lung transplantation is the only viable treatment option. Hence, other effective treatments are urgently required. We investigated the therapeutic effects of an approved botanical drug, cepharanthine (CEP), in a cell culture model of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) and bleomycin (BLM)-induced pulmonary fibrosis rat models both in vitro and in vivo. In this study, CEP and pirfenidone (PFD) suppressed BLM-induced lung tissue inflammation, proliferation of blue collagen fibers, and damage to lung structures in vivo. Furthermore, we also found increased collagen deposition marked by α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and Collagen Type I Alpha 1 (COL1A1), which was significantly alleviated by the addition of PFD and CEP. Moreover, we elucidated the underlying mechanism of CEP against PF in vitro. Various assays confirmed that CEP reduced the viability and migration and promoted apoptosis of myofibroblasts. The expression levels of myofibroblast markers, including COL1A1, vimentin, α-SMA, and Matrix Metallopeptidase 2 (MMP2), were also suppressed by CEP. Simultaneously, CEP significantly suppressed the elevated Phospho-NF-κB p65 (p-p65)/NF-κB p65 (p65) ratio, NOD-like receptor thermal protein domain associated protein 3 (NLRP3) levels, and elevated inhibitor of NF-κB Alpha (IκBα) degradation and reversed the progression of PF. Hence, our study demonstrated that CEP prevented myofibroblast activation and treated BLM-induced pulmonary fibrosis in a dose-dependent manner by regulating nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB)/ NLRP3 signaling, thereby suggesting that CEP has potential clinical application in pulmonary fibrosis in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Ruolan Gu
- Correspondence: (R.G.); (S.L.); (G.D.)
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