Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has aggressed in more than 200 countries and territories since Dec 2019, and 30 million cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2 have been reported, including 950,000 deaths. Supportive treatment remains the mainstay of therapy for COVID-19. There are no small-molecule–specific antiviral drugs available to prevent and treat COVID-19 until recently. Herbal medicine can facilitate syndrome differentiation and treatment according to the clinical manifestations of patients and has demonstrated effectiveness in epidemic prevention and control. The National Health Commission (NHC) of China has recommended “three TCM prescriptions and three medicines,” as a group of six effective herbal formulas against COVID-19 in the released official file “Diagnosis and Treatment Protocol for COVID-19 Patients: Herbal Medicine for the Priority Treatment of COVID-19.” This study aimed to develop a collaborative filtering approach to signaling drug combinations that are similar to the six herbal formulas as potential therapeutic treatments for treating COVID-19. The results have been evaluated by herbal medicine experts’ domain knowledge.
Highlights
The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 continues to cause a rush threat to global health
The 482 TCMs obtained from the TCMSP database contained a total of 13,448 compounds, of which 3,243 compounds appeared in multiple TCMs, with beta-sitosterol appearing most frequently in 237 herbal medicines, followed by palmitic acid and Sitogluside which appeared in 227 and 180 herbal medicines, respectively
There are 49 herbal medicines in the triad of three TCM prescriptions and three medicines, of which 17 herbal medicines appear in multiple formulations, with ephedra, bitter almond, and licorice appearing the most frequently with a total of five occurrences, followed by patchouli with four occurrences
Summary
The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 continues to cause a rush threat to global health. As of October 2nd, 2021, the overall number of patients confirmed to have the disease has exceeded 235,063,766 in more than 180 countries, though the number of people infected is probably much higher. More than 4,805,700 people have died from COVID-19.1 This pandemic is ongoing, so quickly identifying new preventive and therapeutic agents is a top priority. SARS-CoV-2 is widespread and causes multiple organ damage, no specific antiviral drugs or vaccines are currently available. Development of these treatments usually takes a long period, meaning that a more immediate treatment should be found if at all possible.
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