Application of Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine on the Prevention of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)

Main Article Content

Pin-Chun (Renée) Chen

Abstract

Introduction


Disease outbreaks throughout history have taken its toll on the global population. Focusing on the most recent coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, scientists have been investigating viral mechanisms since the outbreak, with the aim of developing effective prevention and antiviral treatments. As the disease continues to rage on, the elimination of infection has been considered as an urgent issue.


 


Objective


Based on the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) approach regarding COVID-19, we investigated the study of this pandemic from a different perspective. We aim to evaluate the effectiveness of TCM herbs as a SARS-CoV-2 prevention agent to furthermore open up more possibilities in regard to disease prevention and control.


 


Method


We closely exerted experiments with 18 TCM herbs for prevention of COVID-19 infection. The SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro) functional assay concentrated on how these herbs inhibit the main protease in charge of virus replication. The viral pseudoparticle (Vpp) assay examined the activity of SARS-CoV-2 entry with the herbs infected with a pseudovirus.


 


Result


The experiments indicated that Forsythia suspensa (Lianqiao), Salvia miltiorrhiza (Danshen), and Scutellaria baicalensis (Huangqin) showed the greatest inhibition of the SARS-CoV-2 Mpro. while Scutellaria baicalensis (Huangqin) and Artemisia capillaris (Mieninchen) expressed suppression of SARS-CoV-2 entry.


 


Conclusion


Altogether, we showed that several TCM herbs turned out to be effective in Mpro targeting and SARS-CoV-2 Vpp inhibiting. We conclude that some of those TCM herbs might be possibly used to lower infection and prevent outbreaks. In terms of its application, while there are many aspects that need to be further investigated, the TCM herbs have shown their potential as preventive measures.


 


 

Article Details

How to Cite
Chen, P.-C. (Renée), Tiao, Z.-Y. (Serena) . and Chuang, Y.-C. (Jessie) (2022) “Application of Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine on the Prevention of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)”, Journal of Asian Medical Students’ Association. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Available at: https://jamsa.amsa-international.org/index.php/main/article/view/376 (Accessed: 10October2024).
Section
AMSC 2024 Japan Scientific Paper

References

Huang ST, Chen Y, Chang WC, Chen HF, Lai HC, Lin YC, et al. Scutellaria barbata D. Don Inhibits the Main Proteases (M(pro) and TMPRSS2) of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Infection. Viruses. 2021;13(5).

Wang YC, Yang WH, Yang CS, Hou MH, Tsai CL, Chou YZ, et al. Structural basis of SARS-CoV-2 main protease inhibition by a broad-spectrum anti-coronaviral drug. Am J Cancer Res. 2020;10(8):2535-45.

Wang SC, Chen Y, Wang YC, Wang WJ, Yang CS, Tsai CL, et al. Tannic acid suppresses SARS-CoV-2 as a dual inhibitor of the viral main protease and the cellular TMPRSS2 protease. Am J Cancer Res. 2020;10(12):4538-46.

Neerukonda SN, Vassell R, Herrup R, Liu S, Wang T, Takeda K, et al. Establishment of a well-characterized SARS-CoV-2 lentiviral pseudovirus neutralization assay using 293T cells with stable expression of ACE2 and TMPRSS2. PLoS One. 2021;16(3):e0248348.

Wang Z, Xia Q, Liu X, Liu W, Huang W, Mei X, et al. Phytochemistry, pharmacology, quality control and future research of Forsythia suspensa (Thunb.) Vahl: A review. J Ethnopharmacol. 2018;210:318-39.

Ren J, Fu L, Nile SH, Zhang J, Kai G. Salvia miltiorrhiza in Treating Cardiovascular Diseases: A Review on Its Pharmacological and Clinical Applications. Front Pharmacol. 2019;10:753.

Zhao T, Tang H, Xie L, Zheng Y, Ma Z, Sun Q, et al. Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi. (Lamiaceae): a review of its traditional uses, botany, phytochemistry, pharmacology and toxicology. J Pharm Pharmacol. 2019;71(9):1353-69.

Błach-Olszewska Z, Jatczak B, Rak A, Lorenc M, Gulanowski B, Drobna A, et al. Production of cytokines and stimulation of resistance to viral infection in human leukocytes by Scutellaria baicalensis flavones. J Interferon Cytokine Res. 2008;28(9):571-81.

Ma, Q., Yu, Q., Xing, X., Liu, S., Shi, C., & Luo, J. (2018). San Wu Huangqin Decoction, a Chinese Herbal Formula, Inhibits Influenza a/PR/8/34 (H1N1) Virus Infection In Vitro and In Vivo. Viruses, 10(3), 117.

Kim J, Jung KH, Yan HH, Cheon MJ, Kang S, Jin X, et al. Artemisia Capillaris leaves inhibit cell proliferation and induce apoptosis in hepatocellular carcinoma. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2018;18(1):147.

Yen MH, Huang CI, Lee MS, Cheng YP, Hsieh CJ, Chiang LC, et al. Artemisia capillaris inhibited enterovirus 71-induced cell injury by preventing viral internalization. Kaohsiung J Med Sci. 2018;34(3):150-9.

Zhang L, Wu C, Zhang Y, Liu F, Wang X, Zhao M, et al. Comparison of efficacy and toxicity of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) herbal mixture LQ and conventional chemotherapy on lung cancer metastasis and survival in mouse models. PLoS One. 2014;9(10):e109814.

Mengist HM, Dilnessa T, Jin T. Structural Basis of Potential Inhibitors Targeting SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease. Front Chem. 2021;9:622898.

Jin Z, Du X, Xu Y, Deng Y, Liu M, Zhao Y, et al. Structure of M(pro) from SARS-CoV-2 and discovery of its inhibitors. Nature. 2020;582(7811):289-93.

Hu J, Gao Q, He C, Huang A, Tang N, Wang K. Development of cell-based pseudovirus entry assay to identify potential viral entry inhibitors and neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. Genes Dis. 2020;7(4):551-7.