Pomegranate, Punica granatum for COVID-19

 Pomegranate, Punica granatum has been reported as potentially beneficial for COVID-19 in the following studies.
COVID-19 involves the interplay of 350+ viral and host proteins and factors providing many therapeutic targets. Scientists have proposed 10,000+ potential treatments. c19early.org analyzes 200+ treatments. We have not reviewed pomegranate, Punica granatum in detail.
Suručić et al., Computational study of pomegranate peel extract polyphenols as potential inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 virus internalization, Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, doi:10.1007/s11010-020-03981-7
Saadh et al., Punicalagin and zinc (II) ions inhibit the activity of SARS-CoV-2 3CL-protease in vitro, European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences, doi:10.26355/eurrev_202105_25958
OBJECTIVE: Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) has now been declared as a worldwide pandemic. Currently, no drugs have been endorsed for its treatment; in this manner, a pressing need has been developed for any antiviral drugs that will treat COVID-19. Coronaviruses require the SARS-CoV-2 3CL-Protease (3CL-protease) for cleavage of its polyprotein to yield a single useful protein and assume a basic role in the disease progression. In this study, we demonstrated that punicalagin, the fundamental active element of pomegranate in addition to the combination of punicalagin with zinc (Zn) II, appear to show powerful inhibitory activity against SARS-CoV-2. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The 3CL protease assay kit was used to quantify 3CL protease action. The tetrazolium dye, MTS, was used to evaluate cytotoxicity. RESULTS: Punicalagin showed inhibitory action against the 3CL-protease in a dose-dependent manner, and IC50 was found to be 6.192 μg/ml for punicalagin. Punicalagin (10 µg/mL) demonstrated a significant inhibitory activity toward 3CL-protease activity (p < 0.001), yet when punicalagin is combined with zinc sulfate monohydrate (punicalagin/Zn-II) extremely strong 3CL-protease activity (p < 0.001) was obtained. The action of 3CL-protease with punicalagin/Zn-II was decreased by approximately 4.4-fold in contrast to only punicalagin (10 µg/mL). Likewise, we did not notice any significant cytotoxicity caused by punicalagin, Zn-II, or punicalagin/Zn-II. CONCLUSIONS: We suggest that these compounds could be used as potential antiviral drugs against COVID-19.
Suručić et al., Pomegranate peel extract polyphenols attenuate the SARS-CoV-2 S-glycoprotein binding ability to ACE2 Receptor: In silico and in vitro studies, Bioorganic Chemistry, doi:10.1016/j.bioorg.2021.105145
Yousefi et al., Adjuvant Pomegranate Juice Intake Improves the Inflammatory Status of Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients: A Randomized and Placebo-Controlled Trial, Complementary Therapies in Medicine, doi:10.1016/j.ctim.2023.102958
Barkat et al., Bidirectional approach of Punica granatum natural compounds: reduction in lung cancer and SARS-CoV-2 propagation, BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies, doi:10.1186/s12906-024-04738-1
Srivastava et al., A Brief Review on Medicinal Plants-At-Arms against COVID-19, Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Infectious Diseases, doi:10.1155/2023/7598307
COVID-19 pandemic caused by the novel SARS-CoV-2 has impacted human livelihood globally. Strenuous efforts have been employed for its control and prevention; however, with recent reports on mutated strains with much higher infectivity, transmissibility, and ability to evade immunity developed from previous SARS-CoV-2 infections, prevention alternatives must be prepared beforehand in case. We have perused over 128 recent works (found on Google Scholar, PubMed, and ScienceDirect as of February 2023) on medicinal plants and their compounds for anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity and eventually reviewed 102 of them. The clinical application and the curative effect were reported high in China and in India. Accordingly, this review highlights the unprecedented opportunities offered by medicinal plants and their compounds, candidates as the therapeutic agent, against COVID-19 by acting as viral protein inhibitors and immunomodulator in (32 clinical trials and hundreds of in silico experiments) conjecture with modern science. Moreover, the associated foreseeable challenges for their viral outbreak management were discussed in comparison to synthetic drugs.
Kumar et al., COVID-19 therapeutics: Clinical application of repurposed drugs and futuristic strategies for target-based drug discovery, Genes & Diseases, doi:10.1016/j.gendis.2022.12.019