Potential of Flavonoid-Inspired Phytomedicines against COVID-19

Potential of Flavonoid-Inspired Phytomedicines against COVID-19

Wilfred Ngwa, Rajiv Kumar, Daryl Thompson, William Lyerly, Roscoe Moore, Terry-Elinor Reid, Henry Lowe, Ngeh Toyang

Flavonoids are widely used as phytomedicines. Here, we report on flavonoid phytomedicines with potential for development into prophylactics or therapeutics against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). These flavonoid-based phytomedicines include: caflanone, Equivir, hesperetin, myricetin, and Linebacker. Our in silico studies show that these flavonoid-based molecules can bind with high affinity to the spike protein, helicase, and protease sites on the ACE2 receptor used by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 to infect cells and cause COVID-19. Meanwhile, in vitro studies show potential of caflanone to inhibit virus entry factors including, ABL-2, cathepsin L, cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, Mip-1α, TNF-α), and PI4Kiiiβ as well as AXL-2, which facilitates mother-to-fetus transmission of coronavirus. The potential for the use of smart drug delivery technologies like nanoparticle drones loaded with these phytomedicines to overcome bioavailability limitations and improve therapeutic efficacy are discussed.

2020

covid-19, SARS-CoV-2, phytomedicine, smart nanoparticles, flavonoids and their derivatives

10.3390/molecules25112707

Biotemas

Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina

Organic chemistry