Dioscin for COVID-19

Since the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and its resultant pneumonia in December 2019, the cumulative number of infected people worldwide has exceeded 670 million, with over 6.8 million deaths. Despite the marketing of multiple series of vaccines and the implementation of strict prevention and control measures in many countries, the spread and prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 have not been completely and effectively controlled. The latest research shows that in addition to angiotensin converting enzyme II (ACE2), dozens of protein molecules, including AXL, can act as host receptors for SARS-CoV-2 infecting human cells, and virus mutation and immune evasion never seem to stop. To sum up, this review summarizes and organizes the latest relevant literature, comprehensively reviews the genome characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 as well as receptor-based pathogenesis (including ACE2 and other new receptors), mutation and immune evasion, vaccine development and other aspects, and proposes a series of prevention and treatment opinions. It is expected to provide a theoretical basis for an in-depth understanding of the pathogenic mechanism of SARS-CoV-2 along with a research basis and new ideas for the diagnosis and classification, of COVID-19-related disease and for drug and vaccine research and development.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant and lasting impact on the world. Four years on, despite the existence of effective vaccines, the continuous emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants remains a challenge for long-term immunity. Additionally, there remain few purpose-built antivirals to protect individuals at risk of severe disease in the event of future coronavirus outbreaks. A promising mechanism of action for novel coronavirus antivirals is the inhibition of viral entry. To facilitate entry, the coronavirus spike glycoprotein interacts with angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) on respiratory epithelial cells. Blocking this interaction and consequently viral replication may be an effective strategy for treating infection, however further research is needed to better characterize candidate molecules with antiviral activity before progressing to animal studies and clinical trials. In general, antiviral drugs are developed from purely synthetic compounds or synthetic derivatives of natural products such as plant secondary metabolites. While the former is often favored due to the higher specificity afforded by rational drug design, natural products offer several unique advantages that make them worthy of further study including diverse bioactivity and the ability to work synergistically with other drugs. Accordingly, there has recently been a renewed interest in natural product-derived antivirals in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. This review provides a summary of recent research into coronavirus entry inhibitors, with a focus on natural compounds derived from plants, honey, and marine sponges.