Lactulose octasulfate for COVID-19

Lactulose octasulfate may be beneficial for COVID-19 according to the studies below. COVID-19 involves the interplay of 500+ viral and host proteins and factors providing many therapeutic targets. Scientists have proposed 11,000+ potential treatments. c19early.org analyzes 220+ treatments. We have not reviewed Lactulose octasulfate in detail.
Raghuraman et al., Oligosaccharides as an Alternative Drug for COVID-19 – An In Silico Analysis, Letters in Applied NanoBioScience, doi:10.33263/LIANBS151.017
COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 that keeps affecting the lives of several million people. It is the need of the hour to find a potential drug that prevents this viral infection, saving millions of lives worldwide. Studies have shown that sulphated polysaccharides possess anti-viral activities against dengue, malaria, HIV, and hepatitis B virus. Oligosaccharides have remarkable biological properties for maintaining human health and are being explored for their potential to treat diseases such as Parkinson's and Crohn's. In this perspective, the present study has focused on exploring the anti-viral nature of oligosaccharides against SARS-CoV-2 by molecular docking against the receptor-binding domains of COVID-19 target structural proteins using AUTODOCK, and the analysis was performed using ADMET and pkCSM tools to predict the toxicity properties of oligosaccharides. Docking results showed that oligomers derived from exopolysaccharides, such as Curdlan and dextran, and their sulphated derivatives, as well as sulphated polysaccharides of seaweed origin, such as fucoidan, carrageenan, and ulvan, had better binding affinity with the target proteins. The binding affinity for 10 units of oligomers of fucoidan with nucleocapsid receptor - binding domain was -11.5 (kcal/mol), followed by ulvan oligomers with -11.2 (kcal/mol). The 10 units of oligomers of fucoidan had a higher binding score with nucleocapsid receptor binding domains of COVID -19, followed by ulvan oligomers when compared to other sulphated oligosaccharides and control ligand. Further, the toxicity profiles of these oligomers, evaluated computationally, were found to be encouraging and safe with respect to toxicological aspects. Therefore, these bioactive oligosaccharides can be exploited as an effective anti-viral therapeutic mediator for SARS-CoV-2. This study will, to our knowledge, shed light on the application of oligosaccharides in developing a possible therapeutic intervention against COVID-19. This study is the first report to assess the potential of sulphated oligosaccharides for the development of anti-viral agents for COVID-19.