Plant-Derived Natural Compounds as an Emerging Antiviral in Combating COVID-19.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a human virus that burst at Wuhan in China and spread quickly over the world, leading to millions of deaths globally. The journey of this deadly virus to different mutant strains is still ongoing. The plethora of drugs and vaccines have been tested to cope up this pandemic. The herbal plants and different spices have received great attention during pandemic, because of their anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory properties in treating viruses and their symptoms. Also, it has been shown that nano-formulation of phytochemicals has potential therapeutic effect against COVID-19. Furthermore, the plant derived compound nano-formulation specifically increases its antiviral property by enhancing its bioavailability, solubility, and target-specific delivery system. This review highlights the potentiality of herbal plants and their phytochemical against SARS-CoV-2 utilizing different mechanisms such as blocking the ACE-2 receptors, inhibiting the main proteases, binding spike proteins and reducing the cytokine storms.

The Role of Antioxidant Agent (N-Acetylcysteine) in Oleic Acid-Induced Acute Lung Injury in a Rat Model.

Context Reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced by inflammatory cells play a major role in mediating lung injury in sepsis or hyperoxic lung injury. Aims N-Acetylcysteine (NAC), an antioxidant, was examined in this research to see whether it helps prevent acute lung injury (ALI). Materials and methods Experiments were performed on Charles-Foster strain healthy male adult albino rats. All the animals were randomly divided into one control and two experimental groups. In control/group I, saline was administered, and cardiorespiratory parameters were recorded. Oleic acid (OA) was administered in group II to produce ALI. In group III, OA was administered to NAC-pretreated rats, and cardiorespiratory parameters were recorded to observe the effect of NAC on ALI. This study used analysis of variance (ANOVA) with two factors and a post hoc test (multiple comparisons - least significant difference (LSD) test) for statical analysis. For determining survival time, the Mantel-Cox test and Kaplan-Meier survival curves were used. A P value < 0.05 was considered significant. Results Respiratory arrest, pulmonary edema, and reduced partial pressure of oxygen (PaO2)/fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO2) ratio were all indications of OA-induced ALI in rats. The animals in the NAC + OA group had better respiratory and cardiac statistics than those in the OA alone group, and their survival duration was extended. However, NAC pretreatment could not protect the animals against the development of pulmonary edema. Conclusions These observations indicate that NAC (an antioxidant agent) protected rats against ALI in the initial phase and prolonged the survival time but failed to prevent the development of pulmonary edema.