Inhibition of SARS-CoV2 viral infection with natural antiviral plants constituents: An in-silico approach

Background and Objective: In 2019, a novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respi-ratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS CoV-2) was declared pandemic. Advancement in computational technology has provided rapid and cost-effective techniques to test the efficacy of newer therapeutic agents. This study evaluated some of the potent phytochemicals obtained from AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa-Rigpa, and Homeopathy)-listed medicinal plants against SARS-CoV-2 proteins using computational techniques.Materials and methods: The potential SARS-CoV-2 protein targets were utilized to study the ligand-pro-tein binding characteristics. The bioactive agents were obtained from ashwagandha, liquorice, amla, neem, tinospora, pepper, and stevia. Ivermectin was utilized as a reference agent to compare its efficacy with phytochemicals. Results: The computational analysis suggested that all the bioactive components from the selected plants possessed negative docking scores (ranging from-6.24 to-10.53). The phytoconstituents were well absorbed, distributed in the body except for the CNS, metabolized by liver enzymes, well cleared from the body, and well tolerated. The data suggest that AYUSH-recommended plants demonstrated therapeu-tic efficacy against SARS CoV-2 virus infection with significantly reduced toxicity.Conclusion: The phytoconstituents were found to hinder the early stages of infection, such as absorption and penetration, while ivermectin prevented the passage of genetic material from the cytoplasm to the nucleus. Additional research involving living tissues and clinical trials are suggested to corroborate the computational findings.(c) 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Automated summary

This study evaluated the efficacy of phytochemicals obtained from AYUSH-listed medicinal plants against SARS-CoV-2 proteins using computational techniques. The results showed that these plants have therapeutic efficacy and low toxicity. Further research is suggested to validate the computational findings.