Alkaloids: Therapeutic Potential against Human Coronaviruses
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Date
2020
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
MPDI
Abstract
Alkaloids are a class of natural products known to have wide pharmacological activity and have great potential for the development of new drugs to treat a wide array of pathologies. Some alkaloids have antiviral activity and/or have been used as prototypes in the development of synthetic antiviral drugs. In this study, eleven anti-coronavirus alkaloids were identified from the scientific literature and their potential therapeutic value against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is discussed. In this study, in silico studies showed an affinity of the alkaloids for binding to the receptor-binding domain of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, putatively preventing it from binding to the host cell. Lastly, several mechanisms for the known anti-coronavirus activity of alkaloids were discussed, showing that the alkaloids are interesting compounds with potential use as bioactive agents against SARS-CoV-2.
Description
Keywords
COVID-19, Natural products, Antiviral drug, SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV
Citation
Fielding, B. C. et al. (2020). Alkaloids: Therapeutic Potential against Human Coronaviruses. Molecules (Basel, Switzerland),25(23)