Two phytocompounds from Schinopsis brasiliensis show promising antiviral activity with multiples targets in Influenza A virus.

Pedro Henrique Sette-De-Souza,Everton N Alencar,Moan J.F Costa,Fábio A.C Araújo,Lucas Amaral-Machado

doi:10.1590/0001-3765202120210964

Abstract

Influenza A virus, the main flu agent, affects billions of people worldwide. Conventional treatments still present limitations related to drug-resistance and severe side effects. As a result, natural product-derived molecules have been increasingly investigated as prospect drug candidates. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the possible anti-flu activity and to evaluate the toxicity and pharmacokinetic parameters, by in silico approaches, of the Schinopsis brasiliensis Engl. phytochemical compounds. Nine phytocompounds and six antiviral drugs (Amantadine, Umifenovir, Favipiravir, Nitazoxanide, Oseltamivir, Zanamivir) were selected for the analyses against four Influenza A proteins: neuraminidase, polymerase basic protein 2, hemagglutinin and M2 ion channel protein. The molecular docking, the predicted antiviral activity, the predicted toxicity and the pharmacokinetics investigations were conducted. The obtained results demonstrated that Syringaresinol and Cycloartenone display promising in silico antiviral activity (binding energy < 5.0 and ≥ 9.0 kcal/mol) and safety (low toxicity than commercial anti-flu drugs). Overall, this study corroborated the hypothesis that S. brasiliensis barks extract has a biological activity against Influenza A virus. Additionally, Syringaresinol and Cycloartenone have multiple targets in Influenza A virus and showed themselves as the most promising phytocompounds to be isolated and considered for the therapeutic arsenal against the flu.

Highlights

The flu, a common infectious disease caused by the influenza virus, affects annually billions of people worldwide (Huang et al 2020)
The epidemics caused by the Influenza A virus results in high mortality, mainly in older people (Iuliano et al 2018), which evidences the importance of studies to develop new strategies intended to improve the treatment methods (Liu et al 2018, Kadam & Wilson 2017, Sheu et al 2011)
The structure of fifteen compounds was downloaded from the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) chemical structure library (PubChem, RRID:SCR_004284)

Summary

Introduction

The flu, a common infectious disease caused by the influenza virus, affects annually billions of people worldwide (Huang et al 2020) This infection has gained notoriety in the public health scenario due to antiviral resistance and its high mutation rate, which leads to the inefficacy of the pharmacological treatment and evasion of the human immune system. Based on this remark, the epidemics caused by the Influenza A virus results in high mortality, mainly in older people (Iuliano et al 2018), which evidences the importance of studies to develop new strategies intended to improve the treatment methods (Liu et al 2018, Kadam & Wilson 2017, Sheu et al 2011). ANTI-INFLUENZA ACTIVITY OF Schinopsis brasiliensis diarrhea, heart failure, photophobia, dyspnea, and hypertension, which impair patient access and compliance (Smith et al 2002)

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