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The new coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), was first detected in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, causing the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
COVID-19 is a highly communicable disease that has spread to more than 191 countries and territories around the world. To date, 97.61 million cases have been confirmed and more than 2 million people have lost their lives.
Whole genome sequencing and phylogenetic analysis indicate that SARS-CoV-2 is related to the SARS bat virus. However, the main and intermediate routes of the jump from SARS-CoV-2 to humans remain unclear; Researchers have continued to explore what, when and how this zoonosis occurred. Meanwhile, clinical trials are underway to find effective antiviral drugs or prophylactic vaccines for COVID-19.
A team of researchers in China, at Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine and Yunnan University of Chinese Medicine, recently explored the therapeutic properties of Yinqiao powder to treat COVID-19 symptoms. Their findings were recently published in Research in Phytotherapy.
Can Traditional Chinese Medicine Help Treat COVID-19 Symptoms?
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has a comprehensive system that plays a key role in the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases. Several provinces in China have been following TCM-based treatment and prevention plans for COVID-19, with remarkable results.
After more than 2000 years of development, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has formed a complete and unique system from disease diagnosis to prognosis, which plays an important role in the prevention and treatment of human infectious diseases. “
Based on big data analysis, Yinqiao powder was found to be the basic formulation used to treat the early stages of COVID-19. According to pharmacological studies, Yinqiao powder has an antitussive and expectorant effect, relieves acute lung injury, improves lung function, relieves pulmonary fibrosis, improves immune response to viruses, and alleviates adverse reactions from modern drugs.
Active ingredients in Yinqiao powder and their key functions
The active ingredients in Yinqiao powder were identified by high performance liquid chromatography analysis: rutin and hesperidin. Rutin binds to the major SARS-CoV-2 protease (3CLpro) with higher affinity than drugs such as remdesivir, chloroquine, and hydroxychloroquine. Studies show that rutin can inhibit SARS-CoV-2 by down-regulating interleukin-6 (IL-6).
Hesperidin, on the other hand, has been found to have an inhibitory effect on the receptors for angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), GRP78, TMPRSS2, and human AT1R, and therefore may be effective in the treatment of COVID- 19. Although some bioactive substances are being investigated for their ability to treat COVID-19, in-depth studies on the ability of Yinqiao powder to treat COVID-19 are scarce.
Exploring the active ingredients and potential mechanisms of Yinqiao powder in the treatment of COVID-19
Researchers recently used various techniques to analyze the active ingredients, targets, and potential mechanisms of Yinqiao powder in treating COVID-19. They used techniques such as targeting and DisGeNET scoring, construction of protein-protein interaction networks, construction of drug-ingredient-gene networks, molecular coupling and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) analysis, genetic tissue analysis , Functional Analysis of Geneontology (GO) and Pathway Analysis of the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG).
The researchers also predicted the therapeutic impact of Yinqiao powder with the help of TCManti-COVID-19 (TCMATCOV). Yinqiao powder has an intervention score of 20.16.
In our study, 30 ingredients of Yinqiao powder were selected from the TCMSP database based on OB and DL, and five ingredients, namely hesperetin, eriodictyol, luteolin, quercetin and naringenin, were verified by LC-MS analysis. “.
Luteolin, eriodictyol, quercetin, and naringenin were the other effective active ingredients present in Yinqiao powder that act against COVID-19. The core proteins in Yinqiao powder were IL-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF), mitogen-activated protein kinase 3 (MAPK3), and tumor protein P53 (TP53). Drug-ingredient-target gene network analysis revealed that drugs such as Jinyinhua, Jingjiesui, Lianqiao, Bohe, Jiegeng, and Gancao have the ability to improve the symptoms of COVID-19 patients.
Drug-ingredient-target gene network analysis revealed that Jinyinhua, Lianqiao, Jingjiesui, Jiegeng, Bohe, and Gancao have potential anti-COVID-19 effects. Some of these drugs have been confirmed to have obvious benefits in improving the clinical symptoms of COVID-19 patients.
According to the authors, potential mechanisms by which Yinqiao powder may help treat COVID-19 are the TNF signaling pathway, the Toll-like receptor signaling pathway, the T-cell receptor signaling pathway, and MAPK signaling pathway. They believe this study offers a new perspective for finding potential drugs to treat COVID-19.
Although these signaling pathways were linked to the emergence and development of COVID-19, there is currently no experiment to further verify the specific role of Yinqiao powder against COVID-19 in these signaling pathways. “
