Combinatorial Evaluation of Antiviral Activity of some Nigerian Medicinal Plants on SARS-CoV-2Combinatorial Evaluation of Antiviral Activity of some Nigerian Medicinal Plants on SARS-CoV-2

Abstract

The coronavirus disease COVID-19 pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2) has presented unprecedented challenges to the healthcare systems in the world. There are no definite effective therapeutic agents or vaccines against the virus currently. However clinical management of the infection includes prevention, control measures, supportive care and repurposed drug therapy based on pathophysiology of the virus and manifestation of the disease condition thereby using antiviral agents such as remdesivir, lopinavir and favipiravir. Herbal preparations are being promoted for the management of Covid-19. Some selected Nigerian medicinal plants are hereby investigated by In-silico studies of the plant constituents. When compared with the listed therapeutic agents, the phytochemical constituents of the selected plants have better binding affinity to several Covid-19 viral target proteins. Also they were found to be safe for human use with LD50 of >2000 mg/Kg for the plant extracts. Some of the plants also contained phytochemicals that can be employed for the symptoms of covid-19.