Lobaric acid for COVID-19

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (SARS-CoV) caused an outbreak in 2002-2003, spreading to 29 countries with a mortality rate of about 10%. Strict quarantine and infection control methods quickly stopped the spread of the disease. Later research showed that SARS-CoV came from animals (zoonosis) and stressed the possibility of a similar spread from host to human, which was clearly shown by the COVID-19 outbreak. The COVID-19 pandemic, instigated by SARS-CoV-2, has affected 776 million confirmed cases and more than seven million deaths globally as of Sept 15, 2024. The existence of animal reservoirs of coronaviruses continues to pose a risk of re-emergence with improved fitness and virulence. Given the high death rate (up to 70 percent) and the high rate of severe sickness (up to 68.7 percent in long-COVID patients), it is even more critical to identify new therapies as soon as possible. This study combines research on antivirals that target SARS coronaviruses that have been conducted over the course of more than twenty years. It is a beneficial resource that might be useful in directing future studies.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is an enveloped respiratory β coronavirus that causes coronavirus disease (COVID-19), leading to a deadly pandemic that has claimed millions of lives worldwide. Like other coronaviruses, the SARS-CoV-2 genome also codes for non-structural proteins (NSPs). These NSPs are found within open reading frame 1a (ORF1a) and open reading frame 1ab (ORF1ab) of the SARS-CoV-2 genome and encode NSP1 to NSP11 and NSP12 to NSP16, respectively. This study aimed to collect the available literature regarding NSP inhibitors. In addition, we searched the natural product database looking for similar structures. The results showed that similar structures could be tested as potential inhibitors of the NSPs.