Moringa oleifera potential for the treatment and prevention of COVID-19 involving molecular interaction, antioxidant properties and kinetic mechanism
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in 2019, has led to a global state of emergency declared by the World Health Organization (WHO). The search for effective therapies against the virus is ongoing, and traditional medicine is emerging as a promising alternative, as many plants with known antiviral potential have been utilized during the pandemic. In this study, we investigated the inhibition of cysteine proteases (Mpro, PLpro, and papain) by bioactive compounds from Moringa oleifera leaves, with the ultimate goal of developing a novel treatment. We conducted a virtual screening based on the structure of the Mpro and PLpro enzymatic targets of SARS-CoV-2, for the selection of compounds with higher inhibitory potential. We then identified 14 bioactive compounds with high binding energy against Mpro and PLpro using AutoDock. Gamma-sitosterol was particularly promising since it showed higher interaction energy with Mpro (-8.6Kcal/mol) and PLpro (-7.4Kcal/mol). Phytochemicals in Moringa oleifera leaves were extracted using aqueous and hydromethanolic solvent system. It was found that polyphenols (4.20-5.01 mg GAE/g DM) and flavonoids (95.86-135.41 mg QE/ g DM) were the major constituents in the extracts. Antioxidant activity in the extracts, particularly DPPH scavenging activity (63.46-123.58 mg TE/g DM) and FRAP activity (48.14-49.66 mg TE/g DM), was high suggesting a potential for the prevention of oxidation and inflammation. Global and…
Read the paper
Related studies
- A Survey on Knowledge Graphs: Representation, Acquisition, and Applications
- Toxicity of nanomaterials
- The Human Gene Mutation Database: towards a comprehensive repository of inherited mutation data for medical research, genetic diagnosis and next-generation sequencing studies
- Halogen bonding (X‐bonding): A biological perspective
- Biofilm formation at the air–liquid interface by the Pseudomonas fluorescens SBW25 wrinkly spreader requires an acetylated form of cellulose
- Opioid Activation of Toll-Like Receptor 4 Contributes to Drug Reinforcement
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.