Abstract
COVID-19, a disease induced by SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2), has been the cause of a worldwide pandemic. Though extensive research works have been reported in recent days on the development of effective therapeutics against this global health crisis, there is still no approved therapy against SARS-CoV-2. In the present study, plant-synthesized secondary metabolites (PSMs) have been prioritized to make a review focusing on the efficacy of plant-originated therapeutics for the treatment of COVID-19. Plant metabolites are a source of countless medicinal compounds, while the diversity of multidimensional chemical structures has made them superior to treat serious diseases. Some have already been reported as promising alternative medicines and lead compounds for drug repurposing and discovery. The versatility of secondary metabolites may provide novel antibiotics to tackle MDR (Multi-Drug Resistant) microbes too. This review attempted to find out plant metabolites that have the therapeutic potential to treat a wide range of viral pathogens. The study includes the search of remedies belonging to plant families, susceptible viral candidates, antiviral assays, and the mode of therapeutic action; this attempt resulted in the collection of an enormous number of natural therapeutics that might be suggested for the treatment of COVID-19. About 219 plants from 83 families were found to have antiviral activity. Among them, 149 plants from 71 families were screened for the identification of the major plant secondary metabolites (PSMs) that might be effective for this pandemic. Our investigation revealed that the proposed plant metabolites can serve as potential anti- SARS-CoV-2 lead molecules for further optimization and drug development processes to combat COVID-19 and future pandemics caused by viruses. This review will stimulate further analysis by the scientific community and boost antiviral plant-based research followed by novel drug designing.
Highlights
Coronaviruses comprise a group of large, enveloped, positivesensed, single-stranded releases its genetic material (RNA) viruses that damage the respiratory tract of mammals including humans, bats, and other animals, leading to infections in the respiratory tract [1,2,3,4,5]
We found polyphenols in numerous plants (Table 4) which exerted antiviral activity [269,270,271] against a wide range of viruses including Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1, HIV2, Herpes simplex virus (HSV)-1, HSV-2, Influenza virus, Dengue virus, hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), Infectious bronchitis virus (IBV), Murbarg virus, Ebola virus, Newcastle disease virus (NDV), Poliomyelitis-1 virus, Lentivirus, and Coronavirus
Our study accentuated some plant secondary metabolites that showed prominent antiviral activity against coronaviruses through impeding the main machinery used in their pathogenesis and replication cycle
Summary
Coronaviruses comprise a group of large, enveloped, positivesensed, single-stranded RNA viruses that damage the respiratory tract of mammals including humans, bats, and other animals, leading to infections in the respiratory tract [1,2,3,4,5]. The infection rate of COVID-19 is increasing gradually but scientists have not been able to suggest any specific drug, vaccine, or any other certified therapeutic agents against SARS-CoV-2, which leads to the significant morbidity and mortality. Up-to-date studies revealed that, though SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV identify a similar receptor (ACE2) in humans [194, 196], there is a noteworthy variation in the antigenicity between SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV2 which has significance on the development of therapeutic options against this rapidly emerging virus [197]. The two most paramount enzymes of SARS CoV-2, proprotein convertase furin- potentiates cell fusion and serine protease TMPRSS2, are responsible for S-protein activation and are propitious drug targets for the treatment of COVID [180, 194, 199].
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