Matrix metalloproteinase inhibitors identified from Camellia sinensis for COVID-19 prophylaxis: an in silico approach

To respond to the public panic, government and private research organizations of every country keep working on the COVID-19 pandemic, even though still there is a lack of more efficacious medicine for the choice of Coronavirus disease treatment. To counteract on this situation several approved drugs including anti-malarial (hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine), and few anti-viral (remdesvir) agents are choice of treatment for COVID-19. However, these agents suffer from certain limitation in their uses and pointed that there is no specific treatment or vaccine available to counter this contagious disease. Hence, there is urgent requirement to find a specific cure for the disease. In this view, there are several ongoing clinical trials of both western and traditional medicines. In present study, phytochemicals fromCamellia sinensiswere retrieved from the database and identified based on their ability to inhibit matrix metalloproteinase (MMPs) against SARS-CoV-2 main protease.Camellia sinensisentails of a massive number of phytochemicals with a good source of polyphenols such as Catechin, Epicatechin, Epigallocatechin and (-)-Epigallocatechin gallate. Molecular docking was performed using the GLIDE docking module of Schrodinger Suite software. The analysis displayed docking score for the five polyphenols i.e. theaflavin (- 8.701), 1-O-caffeoylquinic acid (- 7.795), Genistein (- 7.168), Epigallocatechin 3-gallate (- 6.282) and Ethyl trans-caffeate (- 5.356). Interestingly, theaflavin and Epigallocatechin 3-gallate have not revealed any side effects. These polyphenolic compounds had a strong binding affinity with hydrogen bonds and a good drug-likeness score. Therefore,Camellia sinensiscould be the beneficial option in the prophylaxis of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Automated summary

Current treatments for COVID-19 are limited, and phytochemicals from Camellia sinensis show potential in inhibiting the virus's main protease. These polyphenolic compounds in Camellia sinensis exhibit strong binding affinity with the virus through hydrogen bonds, suggesting it could be a beneficial option in the prophylaxis of the COVID-19 outbreak.