Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2022 Oct;36(10):3833-3858.
doi: 10.1002/ptr.7580. Epub 2022 Aug 5.

Promising natural products against SARS-CoV-2: Structure, function, and clinical trials

Yan Zhao  1 , Shanshan Deng  2 , Yujiao Bai  2 , Jinlin Guo  3 , Guoyin Kai  4 , Xinhe Huang  1 , Xu Jia  2
Affiliations
Review

Promising natural products against SARS-CoV-2: Structure, function, and clinical trials

Yan Zhao et al. Phytother Res. 2022 Oct.

Abstract

The corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-COV-2) poses a severe threat to human health and still spreads globally. Due to the high mutation ratio and breakthrough infection rate of the virus, vaccines and anti-COVID-19 drugs require continual improvements. Drug screening research has shown that some natural active products can target the critical proteins of SARS-CoV-2, including 3CLpro, ACE2, FURIN, and RdRp, which could produce great inhibitory effects on SARS-COV-2. In addition, some natural products have displayed activities of immunomodulation, antiinflammatory, and antihepatic failure in COVID-19 clinical trials, which may relate to their non-monomeric structures. However, further evaluation and high-quality assessments, including safety verification tests, drug interaction tests, and clinical trials, are needed to substantiate natural products' multi-target and multi-pathway effects on COVID-19. Here, we review the literature on several promising active natural products that may act as vaccine immune enhancers or provide targeted anti-COVID-19 drugs. The structures, mechanisms of action, and research progress of these natural products are analyzed, to hopefully provide effective ideas for the development of targeted drugs that possess better structure, potency, and safety.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-COV-2; antivirals; coronaviruses; natural products.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
COVID‐19 infection on the human body and the mechanism of natural active products against it. (a) Natural products targeted to inhibit COVID‐19 invasion and replication. (b) Natural products regulate immune balance. (c) Natural products reduce cytokine storms and affect system diseases
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
The potential mechanism of EGCG for inhibiting COVID‐19
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Structure of potential active products in the treatment of COVID‐19 through immunomodulation (a) EGCG, (b) astragalus polysaccharide, (c) caffeic acid, and (d) resveratrol
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Natural active products target to inhibit the invasion of SARS‐COV‐2 (a) baicalin, (b) baicalein, (c) quercetin, (d) rutin, and (e) kaempferol
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
The structure of natural active products which target to inhibit 3CLPro (a) betulinic acid, (b) berberine, (c) β‐sitosterol, and (d) indirubin
FIGURE 6
FIGURE 6
The structure of natural active products which targeted inhibit RdRp and NSP15 (a) cordycepin, (b) curcumin, and (c) myricetin
FIGURE 7
FIGURE 7
Active natural products that target ACE2 or Furin (a) nicotinamine, (b)chlorogenic acid, and (c) honokiol
FIGURE 8
FIGURE 8
Targeting effects of natural products on COVID‐19 infecting host cells at different stages
FIGURE 9
FIGURE 9
Natural active products inhabit cellular inflammatory storm (a) forsythiaside A, (b) parthenolide, (c) taraxacum sterol, and (d) glycyrrhizin
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Ackermann, M. , Verleden, S. E. , Kuehnel, M. , Haverich, A. , Welte, T. , Laenger, F. , … Jonigk, D. (2020). Pulmonary vascular Endothelialitis, thrombosis, and angiogenesis in Covid‐19. New England Journal of Medicine, 383(2), 120–128. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Adem, S. , Eyupoglu, V. , Sarfraz, I. , Rasul, A. , Zahoor, A. F. , Ali, M. , … Elfiky, A. A. (2021). Caffeic acid derivatives (CAFDs) as inhibitors of SARS‐CoV‐2: CAFDs‐based functional foods as a potential alternative approach to combat COVID‐19. Phytomedicine, 85, 153310. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ahmad, S. , Waheed, Y. , Abro, A. , Abbasi, S. W. , & Ismail, S. (2021). Molecular screening of glycyrrhizin‐based inhibitors against ACE2 host receptor of SARS‐CoV‐2. Journal of Molecular Modeling, 27(7), 206. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Al‐Rashedi, N. A. M. , Munahi, M. G. , & Ah, A. L. (2020). Prediction of potential inhibitors against SARS‐CoV‐2 endoribonuclease: RNA immunity sensing. Journal of Biomolecular Structure & Dynamics, 40(11), 4879‐4892. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Anand, K. , Ziebuhr, J. , Wadhwani, P. , Mesters, J. R. , & Hilgenfeld, R. (2003). Coronavirus main proteinase (3CL[pro]) structure: Basis for design of anti‐SARS drugs. Science, 300(5626), 1763–1767. - PubMed