Abstract
Background: The risk of co-epidemic between COVID-19 and influenza is very high, so it is urgent to find a treatment strategy for the co-infection. Previous studies have shown that phillyrin can not only inhibit the replication of the two viruses, but also has a good anti-inflammatory effect, which is expected to become a candidate compound against COVID-19 and influenza. Objective: To explore the possibility of phillyrin as a candidate compound for the treatment of COVID-19 and influenza co-infection and to speculate its potential regulatory mechanism. Methods: We used a series of bioinformatics network pharmacology methods to understand and characterize the pharmacological targets, biological functions, and therapeutic mechanisms of phillyrin in COVID-19 and influenza co-infection and discover its therapeutic potential. Results: We revealed potential targets, biological processes, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways, and upstream pathway activity of phillyrin against COVID-19 and influenza co-infection. We constructed protein–protein interaction (PPI) network and identified 50 hub genes, such as MMP9, IL-2, VEGFA, AKT, and HIF-1A. Furthermore, our findings indicated that the treatment of phillyrin for COVID-19 and influenza co-infection was associated with immune balance and regulation of hypoxia-cytokine storm, including HIF-1 signaling pathway, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, Ras signaling pathway, and T cell receptor signaling pathway. Conclusion: For the first time, we uncovered the potential targets and biological pathways of phillyrin for COVID-19 and influenza co-infection. These findings should solve the urgent problem of co-infection of COVID-19 and influenza that the world will face in the future, but clinical drug trials are needed for verification in the future.
Highlights
The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by SARSCoV-2, rapidly spread and by March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global pandemic
We explored whether phillyrin has a potential protective effect against SARS-COV-2 and influenza virus co-infection; to clarify this issue, we predicted the potential targets and biological pathways for co-infection with SARS-COV-2 and influenza virus through integrated bioinformatics
The severity of pneumonia caused by SARS-COV-2 and influenza virus infection is closely related to the cytokine storm mediated by excessive inflammation
Summary
The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by SARSCoV-2, rapidly spread and by March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. COVID-19 which has caused over 3 million deaths and has infected 140 million people since December 2019, poses a threat to the sustainability of public health systems worldwide, and has become the most ruinous outbreak since the H1N1 influenza in 1918 (Javelle and Raoult, 2021). In the 20th century, there have been at least four influenza pandemics: the Spanish pandemic in 1918, the H2N2 Asian pandemic in 1957, the H3N2 Hong Kong pandemic in 1968, and the H1N1 pandemic in 2009 (Morens and Taubenberger, 2018). The worst flu pandemic was the Spanish pandemic of 1918, which caused 5.1 billion deaths in 8 months (Morens and Taubenberger, 2018). Seasonal influenza epidemics and occasional pandemics are still public health concerns around the world. Previous studies have shown that phillyrin can inhibit the replication of the two viruses, and has a good antiinflammatory effect, which is expected to become a candidate compound against COVID19 and influenza
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