Abstract
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) had demonstrated effectiveness in the prevention and control of COVID-19. Statistics showed that Ephedra and Glycyrrhiza were frequently used in the treatment of COVID-19. We hypothesized that the Ephedra-Glycyrrhiza drug pair is a potential choice for the treatment of COVID-19. Here, 112 active compounds were identified from Ephedra-Glycyrrhiza via network pharmacology approach. Ephedra-Glycyrrhiza pair enrichment analysis demonstrated that these compounds might participate in the cAMP, PI3K-Akt, JAK-STAT and chemokine signaling pathways, which had a high correlation with respiratory, nervous, blood circulation and digestive system-related diseases. Pathway analysis between Ephedra-Glycyrrhiza and COVID-19 showed that the key targets were TNF-α, IL2, FOS, ALB, and PTGS2. They might control PI3K-Akt signaling pathway to exert immune regulation, organ protection and antiviral effects. Molecular docking results showed that the active compounds from the Ephedra-Glycyrrhiza pair bound well to COVID-19 related targets, including the main protease (Mpro, also called 3CLpro), the spike protein (S protein), and the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). The Molecular dynamics simulation was analyzed for the stability and flexibility of the complex. In conclusion, our study elucidated the potential pharmacological mechanism of Ephedra-Glycyrrhiza in the treatment of COVID-19 through multiple targets and pathways.
Highlights
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and has had a huge negative impact on both mental and physical health, and on economic development as well. [1]
Accumulated evidence has suggested that patients with severe COVID-19 suffered from cytokine storm syndrome, which involved a large number of cytokines such as IL-1, IL-6 and interferon-γ circulating in the blood, tissues and organs through a positive feedback loop between cytokines and immune cells, eventually triggering acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS), as well as death [3, 4]
When summarizing the experience of using traditional Chinese herbs to prevent and treat COVID-19 in Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), we found that Ephedra and Glycyrrhiza were frequently and widely used [16, 17]
Summary
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and has had a huge negative impact on both mental and physical health, and on economic development as well. [1]. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and has had a huge negative impact on both mental and physical health, and on economic development as well. The number of COVID-19 cases is still continuously growing. Severe patients rapidly develop into acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) and even death [2]. Accumulated evidence has suggested that patients with severe COVID-19 suffered from cytokine storm syndrome, which involved a large number of cytokines such as IL-1, IL-6 and interferon-γ circulating in the blood, tissues and organs through a positive feedback loop between cytokines and immune cells, eventually triggering ARDS and MODS, as well as death [3, 4]. A pneumonia outbreak associated with a new coronavirus of probable bat origin
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