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Review
. 2022 Nov 5;23(21):13564.
doi: 10.3390/ijms232113564.

Antiviral Potential of Plants against COVID-19 during Outbreaks-An Update

Qazi Mohammad Sajid Jamal  1
Affiliations
Review

Antiviral Potential of Plants against COVID-19 during Outbreaks-An Update

Qazi Mohammad Sajid Jamal. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

Several human diseases are caused by viruses, including cancer, Type I diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, and hepatocellular carcinoma. In the past, people have suffered greatly from viral diseases such as polio, mumps, measles, dengue fever, SARS, MERS, AIDS, chikungunya fever, encephalitis, and influenza. Recently, COVID-19 has become a pandemic in most parts of the world. Although vaccines are available to fight the infection, their safety and clinical trial data are still questionable. Social distancing, isolation, the use of sanitizer, and personal productive strategies have been implemented to prevent the spread of the virus. Moreover, the search for a potential therapeutic molecule is ongoing. Based on experiences with outbreaks of SARS and MERS, many research studies reveal the potential of medicinal herbs/plants or chemical compounds extracted from them to counteract the effects of these viral diseases. COVID-19's current status includes a decrease in infection rates as a result of large-scale vaccination program implementation by several countries. But it is still very close and needs to boost people's natural immunity in a cost-effective way through phytomedicines because many underdeveloped countries do not have their own vaccination facilities. In this article, phytomedicines as plant parts or plant-derived metabolites that can affect the entry of a virus or its infectiousness inside hosts are described. Finally, it is concluded that the therapeutic potential of medicinal plants must be analyzed and evaluated entirely in the control of COVID-19 in cases of uncontrollable SARS infection.

Keywords: COVID-19; MERS; SARS; antiviral; medicinal plants.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author declares no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Structural features of a coronavirus.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Plant- and herb-targeted envelope protein, spike protein, membrane protein, protease inhibitors, ACE-2 receptors, nuclear capsid protein, and endosomal-like parts of a virus.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Possible beneficial targets in ACE2-mediated SARS-CoV-2 infection. SARS-CoV-2 binds the cell receptor ACE-2 to facilitate entry after the spike protein is primed by membrane protease. The virus then replicates abundantly, producing replicates that efflux from host cells, resulting in damage and spreading. Potential therapeutic approaches include the use of a soluble form of ACE2 that competitively binds viruses.
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