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In silico virtual screening-based study of nutraceuticals predicts the therapeutic potentials of folic acid and its derivatives against COVID-19

Kumar et al., VirusDisease, doi:10.1007/s13337-020-00643-6 (date from preprint)

May 2020

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Vitamin C for COVID-19

6th treatment shown to reduce risk in September 2020

^*, now known with p = 0.000000087 from 70 studies, recognized in 11 countries.

Lower risk for mortality, ICU admission, hospitalization, and recovery.

No treatment is 100% effective. Protocols combine complementary and synergistic treatments. ^* >10% efficacy in meta analysis with ≥3 clinical studies.

4,100+ studies for 60+ treatments. c19early.org

In Silico analysis finding that magnesium ascorbate, a form of Vitamin C, was found to be the top compound among 106 nutraceuticals for binding to M^pro of SARS-CoV-2.

12 preclinical studies support the efficacy of vitamin C for COVID-19:

5 In Silico studies Alkafaas, Kumar, Malla, Morales-Bayuelo, Pandya

6 In Vitro studies Goc, Hajdrik, Malla, Moatasim, Zuo, Đukić

1 In Vivo animal study Zuo

Vitamin C has been identified by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) as having sufficient evidence for a causal relationship between intake and optimal immune system function EFSA, Galmés, Galmés (B). Vitamin C plays a key role in the immune system, supporting the production and function of leukocytes, or white blood cells, which defend against infection and disease, including the production of lymphocytes, which make antibodies, and enhancing phagocytosis, the process by which immune system cells ingest and destroy viruses and infected cells. Vitamin C is an antioxidant, protecting cells from damage caused by free radicals. Vitamin C inhibits SARS-CoV-2 3CL^pro Malla, Đukić and inhibits SARS-CoV-2 infection by reducing ACE2 levels in a dose-dependent manner Zuo. Intracellular levels of vitamin C decline during COVID-19 hospitalization suggesting ongoing utilization and depletion of vitamin C Boerenkamp. Threonic acid, a metabolite of vitamin C, is lower in mild and severe cases, consistent with increased need for and metabolization of vitamin C with moderate infection, but more limited ability to produce threonic acid in severe infection due to depletion or existing lower levels of vitamin C Albóniga. Symptomatic COVID-19 is associated with a lower frequency of natural killer (NK) cells, and vitamin C has been shown to improve NK cell numbers and functioning Graydon, Vojdani.

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Study covers vitamin B9 and vitamin C.

1. Albóniga et al., Differential abundance of lipids and metabolites related to SARS-CoV-2 infection and susceptibility, Scientific Reports, doi:10.1038/s41598-023-40999-5.nature.com, doi.org.

2. Alkafaas et al., A study on the effect of natural products against the transmission of B.1.1.529 Omicron, Virology Journal, doi:10.1186/s12985-023-02160-6.biomedcentral.com, doi.org.

3. Boerenkamp et al., Low Levels of Serum and Intracellular Vitamin C in Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients, Nutrients, doi:10.3390/nu15163653.mdpi.com, doi.org.

4. Đukić et al., Inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 Mpro with Vitamin C, L-Arginine and a Vitamin C/L-Arginine Combination, Frontiers in Bioscience-Landmark, doi:10.31083/j.fbl2801008.imrpress.com, doi.org.

5. EFSA, Scientific Opinion on the substantiation of health claims related to vitamin C and protection of DNA, proteins and lipids from oxidative damage (ID 129, 138, 143, 148), antioxidant function of lutein (ID 146), maintenance of vision (ID 141, 142), collagen formation (ID 130, 131, 136, 137, 149), function of the nervous system (ID 133), function of the immune system (ID 134), function of the immune system during and after extreme physical exercise (ID 144), non-haem iron absorption (ID 132, 147), energy-yielding metabolism (ID 135), and relief in case of irritation in the upper respiratory tract (ID 1714, 1715) pursuant to Article 13(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006, EFSA Journal, doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2009.1226.europa.eu, doi.org.

6. Galmés et al., Suboptimal Consumption of Relevant Immune System Micronutrients Is Associated with a Worse Impact of COVID-19 in Spanish Populations, Nutrients, doi:10.3390/nu14112254.mdpi.com, doi.org.

7. Galmés (B) et al., Current State of Evidence: Influence of Nutritional and Nutrigenetic Factors on Immunity in the COVID-19 Pandemic Framework, Nutrients, doi:10.3390/nu12092738.mdpi.com, doi.org.

8. Goc et al., Inhibitory effects of specific combination of natural compounds against SARS-CoV-2 and its Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Kappa, and Mu variants, European Journal of Microbiology and Immunology, doi:10.1556/1886.2021.00022.akjournals.com, doi.org.

9. Graydon et al., High baseline frequencies of natural killer cells are associated with asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection, Current Research in Immunology, doi:10.1016/j.crimmu.2023.100064.sciencedirect.com, doi.org.

10. Hajdrik et al., In Vitro Determination of Inhibitory Effects of Humic Substances Complexing Zn and Se on SARS-CoV-2 Virus Replication, Foods, doi:10.3390/foods11050694.mdpi.com, doi.org.

11. Kumar et al., In silico virtual screening-based study of nutraceuticals predicts the therapeutic potentials of folic acid and its derivatives against COVID-19, VirusDisease, doi:10.1007/s13337-020-00643-6.springer.com, doi.org.

12. Malla et al., Vitamin C inhibits SARS coronavirus-2 main protease essential for viral replication, bioRxiv, doi:10.1101/2021.05.02.442358.biorxiv.org, doi.org.

13. Moatasim et al., Potent Antiviral Activity of Vitamin B12 against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus, and Human Coronavirus 229E, Microorganisms, doi:10.3390/microorganisms11112777.mdpi.com, doi.org.

14. Morales-Bayuelo et al., New findings on ligand series used as SARS-CoV-2 virus inhibitors within the frameworks of molecular docking, molecular quantum similarity and chemical reactivity indices, F1000Research, doi:10.12688/f1000research.123550.3.f1000research.com, doi.org.

15. Pandya et al., Unravelling Vitamin B12 as a potential inhibitor against SARS-CoV-2: A computational approach, Informatics in Medicine Unlocked, doi:10.1016/j.imu.2022.100951.sciencedirect.com, doi.org.

16. Vojdani et al., In vivo effect of ascorbic acid on enhancement of human natural killer cell activity, Nutrition Research, doi:10.1016/S0271-5317(05)80799-7.sciencedirect.com, doi.org.

17. Zuo et al., Vitamin C promotes ACE2 degradation and protects against SARS‐CoV‐2 infection, EMBO reports, doi:10.15252/embr.202256374.wiley.com, doi.org.

Kumar et al., 27 May 2020, peer-reviewed, 3 authors. Contact: manoj.20283@lpu.co.in, vipul2732@gmail.com, sudhakar@devlabwerks.com.

In Silico studies are an important part of preclinical research, however results may be very different in vivo.

This Paper Vitamin C All

In silico virtual screening-based study of nutraceuticals predicts the therapeutic potentials of folic acid and its derivatives against COVID-19

Vipul Kumar, Sudhakar Kancharla, Manoj Kumar

The recent outbreak of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) in the Wuhan province of China has taken millions of lives worldwide. In this pandemic situation and absence of known drugs and vaccines against novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), there is an urgent need for the repurposing of the existing drugs against it. So, here we have examined a safe and cheap alternative against this virus by screening hundreds of nutraceuticals compounds against known therapeutic targets of SARS-COV-2 by molecular docking. The virtual screening results were then analyzed for binding energy and interactive residues and compared with some already known hits in the best binding pose. All these analyses of this study strongly predicted the potential of Folic acid and its derivates like Tetrahydrofolic acid and 5-methyl tetrahydrofolic acid against SARS-COV-2. The strong and stable binding affinity of this water-soluble vitamin and its derivatives against the SARS-COV-2, indicating that they could be valuable drugs against the management of this COVID-19 pandemic. This study could serve as the starting point for further investigation of these molecules through in vitro and in vivo assays.

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