Preprint / Version 1

Recent advances towards natural plants as potential inhibitors of SARS-Cov-2 targets

Authors

  • Zhouman He aSchool of Chinese Medicinal Resource, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, P. R. China
  • Jia Yuan aSchool of Chinese Medicinal Resource, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, P. R. China
  • Yuanwen Zhang aSchool of Chinese Medicinal Resource, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, P. R. China
  • Runfeng Li bState Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, The First Affiliated Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, P. R. China
  • Meilan Mo aSchool of Chinese Medicinal Resource, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, P. R. China
  • Yutao Wang bState Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, The First Affiliated Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, P. R. China
  • Huihui Ti aSchool of Chinese Medicinal Resource, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, P. R. China

Keywords:

COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, natural products, traditional chinese medicines, anti-SARS-CoV-2 strategies, phytochemicals

Abstract

Context Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is still ongoing and currently the most striking epidemic disease. With the rapid global spread of SARS-CoV-2 variants, new antivirals are urgently needed to avert a more serious crisis. Inhibitors from traditional medicines or natural plants have shown promising results to fight COVID-19 with different mechanisms of action. Objectives To provide comprehensive and promising approaches to the medical community in the fight against this epidemic by reviewing potential plant-derived anti-SARS-CoV-2 inhibitors. Methods Structural databases such as TCMSP (http://lsp.nwu.edu.cn/tcmsp.php), TCM Database @ Taiwan (http://tcm.cmu.edu.tw/), BATMAN-TCM (http://bionet.ncpsb.org/batman-tcm/) and TCMID (http://www.megabionet.org/tcmid/), as well as PubMed, Sci Finder, Research Gate, Science Direct, CNKI, Web of Science and Google Scholar were searched for relevant articles on TCMs and natural products against SARS-CoV-2. Results Seven traditional Chinese medicines formulas have unique advantages in regulating the immune system for treating COVID-19. The plant-derived natural compounds as anti-SARS-CoV-2 inhibitors were identified based on 5 SARS-CoV-2 key proteins, namely, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), 3 C-like protease (3CLpro), papain-like protease (PLpro), spike (S) protein, and nucleocapsid (N) protein. Conclusions A variety of natural products, such as flavonoids, terpenoids, phenols, and alkaloids, were identified, which could be used as potential SASR-Cov-2 inhibitors. These shed new light on the efficient discovery of SASR-Cov-2 inhibitors from natural products. Keywords: COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, natural products, traditional chinese medicines, anti-SARS-CoV-2 strategies, phytochemicals

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