Researchers at the Durban University of Technology and the University of KwaZulu-Natal have been examining plants used in traditional African medicine to see if they have any application in treating COVID.
There has been increasing interest in investigating medicinal plants for compounds to use in the treatment of COVID, which still lacks an effective treatment despite effective vaccines being demonstrated.
The researchers began with 29 compounds from medicinal plants known to be effective in treating the common cold, flu, other respiratory conditions, as well as their antimalarial, antiviral and antioxidant activity.
Using a biocomputational approach that does simulated “molecular docking” with various compounds and the known molecules of SARS-CoV-2, the researchers found a number of plants, including the Rooibos bush, contained useful compounds. These displayed favourable binding orientations and were thus identified as being potential inhibitors of the SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain and SARS-CoV-2 RNA-dependent polymerase. Four compounds showed extremely good binding to the virus, indicating that they may prevent viral replication.
The next stage of their work will be an in vitro study, before moving onto animal models but is contingent on the team being able to secure funding.
Source: The Conversation
