The naturally‐derived alkaloids as a potential treatment for COVID‐19: A scoping review

• Published in: Phytotherapy research Vol. 36; no. 7; pp. 2686 - 2709
• Main Authors: Gonzalez, Bárbara Longhini, Oliveira, Natalia Castelhano, Ritter, Mariane Roberta, Tonin, Fernanda Stumpf, Melo, Eduardo Borges, Sanches, Andréia Cristina Conegero, Fernandez‐Llimos, Fernando, Petruco, Marcus Vinícius, Mello, João Carlos Palazzo, Chierrito, Danielly, Medeiros Araújo, Daniela Cristina
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 01.07.2022; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Alkaloids; Berberine; Chemical compounds; Clinical trials; Colchicine; coronavirus; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Emetine; Ergotamine; Health services; Herbal medicine; Inflammation; medicinal plant; Medicinal plants; natural product; Pharmacology; Proteins; Quinine; Review; Reviews; SARS‐CoV‐2; Severe acute respiratory syndrome; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Viral diseases; coronavirus; SARS-CoV-2; medicinal plant; natural product; alkaloids
• ISSN: 0951-418X; 1099-1573; 1099-1573
• DOI: 10.1002/ptr.7442

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) is caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2), which has a high mortality rate and transmissibility. In this context, medicinal plants have attracted attention due to the wide availability and variety of therapeutic compounds, such as alkaloids, a vast class with several proven pharmacological effects, like the antiviral and anti‐inflammatory activities. Therefore, this scoping review aimed to summarize the current knowledge of the potential applicability of alkaloids for treating COVID‐19. A systematic search was performed on PubMed and Scopus, from database inception to August 2021. Among the 63 eligible studies, 65.07% were in silico model, 20.63% in vitro and 14.28% clinical trials and observational studies. According to the in silico assessments, the alkaloids 10‐hydroxyusambarensine, cryptospirolepine, crambescidin 826, deoxynortryptoquivaline, ergotamine, michellamine B, nigellidine, norboldine and quinadoline B showed higher binding energy with more than two target proteins. The remaining studies showed potential use of berberine, cephaeline, emetine, homoharringtonine, lycorine, narciclasine, quinine, papaverine and colchicine. The possible ability of alkaloids to inhibit protein targets and to reduce inflammatory markers show the potential for development of new treatment strategies against COVID‐19. However, more high quality analyses/reviews in this field are necessary to firmly establish the effectiveness/safety of the alkaloids here described.