Piper nigrum for COVID-19

Abstract The rapid transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and its capability to spread in humans has brought about the development of new approaches for treatment against COVID-19. Drugs and vaccines available currently either target the virus ectodomain or endodomain. Thus, repurposing the use of natural products that target more than one part of the virus is the fastest option available for treatment. Plants are a repository of important constituents with proven significant efficacy against many human viruses. The present study focused on employing computational approaches for screening phytochemicals from 4 Indian medicinal plants, by targeting more than one part of SARS-CoV-2 for the identification of natural antiviral therapeutics to determine their feasibility as potential inhibitors of target viral proteins. Here, we used a multi-target, ligand virtual screening study on 9 target proteins important in SARS-CoV-2 lifecycle, namely Spike glycoprotein, Nucleocapsid phosphatase, Spike protein ACE-2, Non-structural protein 10 and 12, RdRp, Envelope protein, Main protease/3CL protease, and Papain like proteas. Out of the 58 plant phytochemicals screened, Z-5-methyl-6- heneicosen-11- one from Piper nigrum, Arjunetin from Terminalia arjuna, Rutin from Azadirachta indica and Makisterone A from Tinospora cordifolia exhibited highest binding affinity with 9 viral targets. In addition, ADMET analysis indicated Ursodeoxycholic acid, Ellagic Acid, Epicatechin and Isocolumbin, Ecdysterone, Columbin from Piper nigrum, Terminalia arjuna, Azadirachta indica, and Tinospora cordifolia have good binding energetics with the target viral proteins. The research thus enlightens the suitable pharmacological properties and the anti-viral activity of potential medicinal plant molecules for human administration using extensive in-silico techniques.

AbstractTo attain promising pharmacotherapies, researchers have applied drug repurposing (DR) techniques to discover the candidate medicines to combat the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak. Although many DR approaches have been introduced for treating different diseases, only structure-based DR (SBDR) methods can be employed as the first therapeutic option against the COVID-19 pandemic because they rely on the rudimentary information about the diseases such as the sequence of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 genome. Hence, to try out new treatments for the disease, the first attempts have been made based on the SBDR methods which seem to be among the proper choices for discovering the potential medications against the emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. Given the importance of SBDR approaches, in the present review, well-known SBDR methods are summarized, and their merits are investigated. Then, the databases and software applications, utilized for repurposing the drugs against COVID-19, are introduced. Besides, the identified drugs are categorized based on their targets. Finally, a comparison is made between the SBDR approaches and other DR methods, and some possible future directions are proposed.

In December 2019, an outbreak of a respiratory disease called the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by a new coronavirus known as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) began in Wuhan, China. The SARS-CoV-2, an encapsulated positive-stranded RNA virus, spread worldwide with disastrous consequences for people’s health, economies, and quality of life. The disease has had far-reaching impacts on society, including economic disruption, school closures, and increased stress and anxiety. It has also highlighted disparities in healthcare access and outcomes, with marginalized communities disproportionately affected by the SARS-CoV-2. The symptoms of COVID-19 range from mild to severe. There is presently no effective cure. Nevertheless, significant progress has been made in developing COVID-19 vaccine for different therapeutic targets. For instance, scientists developed multifold vaccine candidates shortly after the COVID-19 outbreak after Pfizer and AstraZeneca discovered the initial COVID-19 vaccines. These vaccines reduce disease spread, severity, and mortality. The addition of rapid diagnostics to microscopy for COVID-19 diagnosis has proven crucial. Our review provides a thorough overview of the historical development of COVID-19 and molecular and biochemical characterization of the SARS-CoV-2. We highlight the potential contributions from insect and plant sources as anti-SARS-CoV-2 and present directions for future research.