Saikosaponin B2 for COVID-19

Several human diseases are caused by viruses, including cancer, Type I diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and hepatocellular carcinoma. In the past, people have suffered greatly from viral diseases such as polio, mumps, measles, dengue fever, SARS, MERS, AIDS, chikungunya fever, encephalitis, and influenza. Recently, COVID-19 has become a pandemic in most parts of the world. Although vaccines are available to fight the infection, their safety and clinical trial data are still questionable. Social distancing, isolation, the use of sanitizer, and personal productive strategies have been implemented to prevent the spread of the virus. Moreover, the search for a potential therapeutic molecule is ongoing. Based on experiences with outbreaks of SARS and MERS, many research studies reveal the potential of medicinal herbs/plants or chemical compounds extracted from them to counteract the effects of these viral diseases. COVID-19′s current status includes a decrease in infection rates as a result of large-scale vaccination program implementation by several countries. But it is still very close and needs to boost people’s natural immunity in a cost-effective way through phytomedicines because many underdeveloped countries do not have their own vaccination facilities. In this article, phytomedicines as plant parts or plant-derived metabolites that can affect the entry of a virus or its infectiousness inside hosts are described. Finally, it is concluded that the therapeutic potential of medicinal plants must be analyzed and evaluated entirely in the control of COVID-19 in cases of uncontrollable SARS infection.

The emergence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has affected many countries throughout the world. As urgency is a necessity, most efforts have focused on identifying small molecule drugs that can be repurposed for use as anti-SARS-CoV-2 agents. Although several drug candidates have been identified using in silico method and in vitro studies, most of these drugs require the support of in vivo data before they can be considered for clinical trials. Several drugs are considered promising therapeutic agents for COVID-19. In addition to the direct-acting antiviral drugs, supportive therapies including traditional Chinese medicine, immunotherapies, immunomodulators, and nutritional therapy could contribute a major role in treating COVID-19 patients. Some of these drugs have already been included in the treatment guidelines, recommendations, and standard operating procedures. In this article, we comprehensively review the approved and potential therapeutic drugs, immune cells-based therapies, immunomodulatory agents/drugs, herbs and plant metabolites, nutritional and dietary for COVID-19.

The outbreak of the new coronavirus (COVID-19) has been transferred exponentially. There are many articles that have found the inhibitory effect of plant extracts or plant compounds on the coronavirus family. In this study, we want to use systematic review and meta-analysis to answer the question of which herbal compound can be more effective against the coronavirus. The present study is based on the guidelines for conducting meta-analyzes. An extensive search was conducted in the electronic database, and based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, articles were selected and data screening was performed. Quality control of articles was performed. Data analysis was carried out in STATA software. The results showed that alkaloid compounds had a good effect in controlling the coronavirus and reducing viral titer. Trypthantrin, Sambucus extract, S. cusia extract, Boceprevir and Indigole B, dioica agglutinin urtica had a good effect on reducing the virus titer but their selectivity index has not been reported and it is recommended to determine for these compounds. Also among the compounds that had the greatest effect on virus inhibition, including Saikosaponins B2, SaikosaponinsD, SaikosaponinsA and Phillyrin, had an acceptable selectivity index greater than 10. Andrographolide showed the highest selectivity index on SARS-COV2, while virus titration and virus inhibition were not reported. The small number of studies that used alkaloid compounds was one of the limitations and it is suggested to investigate the effect of more alkaloid compounds against the coronavirus for verifying its effect.

Amid the SARS‐CoV‐2 pandemic, herbal medicines have received much attention in its evidence-based therapeutics. Scientists across the globe are integrating new research at an unprecedented fast pace for the discovery of novel molecules against this deadly viral disease. Ever since ancient times, phytochemicals have long been used traditionally for the cure of many viral diseases and lately many are being tested for their potential against the viral replications/transcriptions. The unmatched structural diversity of phytoconstituents may prove to be a gold mine for antiviral drug discovery. Many plants like Heteromorpha spp., Bupleurum spp, Scrophularia scorodonia, Artemisia annua, Pyrrosia lingua, Lycoris radiate, and Lindera agregata have also been reported to have antiviral potential against SARS-CoV. Recently many synthetic molecules like remdesivir, tocilizumab, favipirapir, dexamethasone, glucocorticoid, and hydroxychloroquine etc. have been extensively investigated for their potential against the SARS‐CoV‐2, likewise, various plant-based molecules such as scutellarein, silvestrol, tryptanthrin, saikosaponin B2, quercetin, myricetin, caffeic acid, psoralidin, isobavachalcone, and lectins-griffiths in were also found to be equally effective. Needless to mention that, the herbal medicines are a valuable and powerful source of chemical compounds which need further chemical modifications and appropriate in-vitro and in-vivo testings for establishing their safety and efficacy as potential drugs against the battle with coronavirus pandemic. In this review, we will try to highlight the potential phytochemicals candidates with their possible molecular targets against the SARS‐CoV‐2and demystify the myths behind the purported remedies such as herbal therapies, teas, essential oils, tinctures, and silver products such as colloidal silver that have no scientific evidence to prevent or cure COVID-19. Apart from that, this review will also de-fabricate the surgency of objectionable claims that are continuously reckoning towards the treatment of COVID-19 with hundred per cent surety and are propagated by several herbal firms.