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Review
. 2021 Jun 18;9(6):689.
doi: 10.3390/biomedicines9060689.

Natural Products, Alone or in Combination with FDA-Approved Drugs, to Treat COVID-19 and Lung Cancer

Liyan Yang  1 , Zhonglei Wang  2   3   4
Affiliations
Review

Natural Products, Alone or in Combination with FDA-Approved Drugs, to Treat COVID-19 and Lung Cancer

Liyan Yang et al. Biomedicines. .

Abstract

As a public health emergency of international concern, the highly contagious coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been identified as a severe threat to the lives of billions of individuals. Lung cancer, a malignant tumor with the highest mortality rate, has brought significant challenges to both human health and economic development. Natural products may play a pivotal role in treating lung diseases. We reviewed published studies relating to natural products, used alone or in combination with US Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs, active against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and lung cancer from 1 January 2020 to 31 May 2021. A wide range of natural products can be considered promising anti-COVID-19 or anti-lung cancer agents have gained widespread attention, including natural products as monotherapy for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 (ginkgolic acid, shiraiachrome A, resveratrol, and baicalein) or lung cancer (daurisoline, graveospene A, deguelin, and erianin) or in combination with FDA-approved anti-SARS-CoV-2 agents (cepharanthine plus nelfinavir, linoleic acid plus remdesivir) and anti-lung cancer agents (curcumin and cisplatin, celastrol and gefitinib). Natural products have demonstrated potential value and with the assistance of nanotechnology, combination drug therapies, and the codrug strategy, this "natural remedy" could serve as a starting point for further drug development in treating these lung diseases.

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; United States Food and Drug Administration-approved drug; lung cancer; natural product; natural remedy.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Promising natural products for treating SARS-CoV-2.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Promising natural products for treating lung cancer.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Cepharanthine in combination with FDA-approved nelfinavir inhibits SARS-CoV-2.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Linoleic acid in combination with FDA-approved remdesivir inhibit SARS-CoV-2.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Synthesis, bioconversion, and synergistic effects of the nanoparticles HCPNs (image reproduced with permission from [178].
Figure 6
Figure 6
Synthesis, bioconversion, and synergistic effect of the nanodrug CEL@G-SS-NIR.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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