Psychoactive Plant Database - Neuroactive Phytochemical Collection

1. J Integr Med. 2022 Nov;20(6):488-496. doi: 10.1016/j.joim.2022.08.001. Epub
2022  Aug 9.

Potential medicinal plants involved in inhibiting 3CL(pro) activity: A practical 
alternate approach to combating COVID-19.

Yang F(1), Jiang XL(2), Tariq A(3), Sadia S(4), Ahmed Z(5), Sardans J(6), Aleem 
M(4), Ullah R(7), Bussmann RW(8).

Author information:
(1)The Medical Center of General Practice, Sichuan Academy of Medical Science 
and Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, 
China.
(2)The Medical Center of General Practice, Sichuan Academy of Medical Science 
and Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, 
China. Electronic address: jxlljy2011@163.com.
(3)Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 
Urumqi 830041, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China. Electronic address: 
akash.malik786@mails.ucas.ac.cn.
(4)Department of Biological Sciences, University of Veterinary and Animal 
Sciences, Ravi Campus, Pattoki 55300, Pakistan.
(5)Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 
Urumqi 830041, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China.
(6)Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Global Ecology Unit, Centre 
for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications-Consejo Superior de 
Investigaciones Científicas-Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, 
Barcelona 08193, Catalonia, Spain; Centre for Ecological Research and Forestry 
Applications, Cerdanyola del Vallès 08193, Catalonia, Spain.
(7)Department of Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, 
Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia.
(8)Department of Ethnobotany, Institute of Botany, llia State University, 
Tbilisi 0105, Georgia.

At present, a variety of vaccines have been approved, and existing antiviral 
drugs are being tested to find an effective treatment for coronavirus disease 
2019 (COVID-19). However, no standardized treatment has yet been approved by the 
World Health Organization. The virally encoded chymotrypsin-like protease 
(3CLpro) from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), 
which facilitates the replication of SARS-CoV in the host cells, is one 
potential pharmacological target for the development of anti-SARS drugs. Online 
search engines, such as Web of Science, Google Scholar, Scopus and PubMed, were 
used to retrieve data on the traditional uses of medicinal plants and their 
inhibitory effects against the SARS-CoV 3CLpro. Various pure compounds, 
including polyphenols, terpenoids, chalcones, alkaloids, biflavonoids, 
flavanones, anthraquinones and glycosides, have shown potent inhibition of 
SARS-CoV-2 3CLpro activity with 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) values 
ranging from 2-44 µg/mL. Interestingly, most of these active compounds, 
including xanthoangelol E (isolated from Angelica keiskei), dieckol 1 (isolated 
from Ecklonia cava), amentoflavone (isolated from Torreya nucifera), celastrol, 
pristimerin, tingenone and iguesterin (isolated from Tripterygium regelii), 
tannic acid (isolated from Camellia sinensis), and theaflavin-3,3'-digallate, 
3-isotheaflav1in-3 gallate and dihydrotanshinone I (isolated from Salvia 
miltiorrhiza), had IC50 values of less than 15 µg/mL. Kinetic mechanistic 
studies of several active compounds revealed that their mode of inhibition was 
dose-dependent and competitive, with Ki values ranging from 2.4-43.8 μmol/L. 
Given the significance of plant-based compounds and the many promising results 
obtained, there is still need to explore the phytochemical and mechanistic 
potentials of plants and their products. These medicinal plants could serve as 
an effective inexpensive nutraceutical for the general public to help manage 
COVID-19.

Copyright © 2022 Shanghai Changhai Hospital. Published by Elsevier B.V. All 
rights reserved.

DOI: 10.1016/j.joim.2022.08.001
PMCID: PMC9359926
PMID: 35985974 [Indexed for MEDLINE]


2. Acta Pharm. 2021 Dec 30;72(2):159-169. doi: 10.2478/acph-2022-0020. Print 2022
 Jun 1.

Promising inhibitors against main protease of SARS CoV-2 from medicinal plants: 
In silico identification.

Ebenezer O(1), Shapi M(1).

Author information:
(1)Faculty of Natural Science Department of Chemistry Mangosuthu University of 
Technology 511 Mangosuthu Highway, Durban 4000, South Africa.

Some compounds reported as active against SARS CoV were selected, and docking 
studies were performed using the main protease of SARS CoV-2 as the receptor. 
The docked complex analysis shows that the ligands selectively bind with the 
target residues and binding affinity of amentoflavone (-10.1 kcal mol-1), 
isotheaflavin-3'-gallate (-9.8 kcal mol-1), tomentin A and D (-8.0 and -8.8 kcal 
mol-1), theaflavin-3,3'-digallate (-8.6 kcal mol-1), papyriflavonol A (-8.4 kcal 
mol-1), iguesterin (-8.0 kcal mol-1) and savinin (-8.3 kcal mol-1) were ranked 
above the binding affinity of the reference, co-crystal ligand, ML188, a 
furan-2-carboxamide-based compound. To pinpoint the drug-like compound among the 
top-ranked compounds, the Lipinski's rule of five and pharmacokinetic properties 
of all the selected compounds were evaluated. The results detailed that savinin 
exhibits high gastrointestinal absorption and can penetrate through the 
blood-brain barrier. Also, modifying these natural scaffolds with excellent 
binding affinity may lead to discovering of anti-SARS CoV agents with promising 
safety profiles.

© 2022 Oluwakemi Ebenezer., published by Sciendo.

DOI: 10.2478/acph-2022-0020
PMID: 36651513 [Indexed for MEDLINE]


3. Acta Pharm. 2021 Dec 30;72(2):199-224. doi: 10.2478/acph-2022-0021. Print 2022
 Jun 1.

Medicinal plants with anti-SARS-CoV activity repurposing for treatment of 
COVID-19 infection: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Ebenezer O(1), Bodede O(2), Awolade P(3), Jordaan MA(1), Ogunsakin RE(4), Shapi 
M(1).

Author information:
(1)1Faculty of Natural Science, Department of Chemistry, Mangosuthu University 
of Technology, 511 Mangosuthu Highway Durban, 4000, South Africa.
(2)2Department of Agriculture and Animal Health, University of South Africa 
Florida Campus, Florida, 1710 South Africa.
(3)3School of Chemistry and Physics University of KwaZulu-Natal P/Bag X54001, 
Westville, Durban South Africa.
(4)4Discipline of Public Health Medicine College of Health Sciences University 
of KwaZulu Natal, Durban 4001, South Africa.

The novel SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus) has emerged 
as a significant threat to public health with startling drawbacks in all sectors 
globally. This study investigates the practicality of some medicinal plants for 
SARS-CoV-2 therapy using a systematic review and meta-analysis of their reported 
SARS-CoV-1 inhibitory potencies. Relevant data were systematically gathered from 
three databases, viz., Web of Science, PubMed and Scopus. The information 
obtained included botanical information, extraction method and extracts 
concentrations, as well as the proposed mechanisms. Fourteen articles describing 
30 different plants met our eligibility criteria. Random effects model and 
subgroup analysis were applied to investigate heterogeneity. According to 
subgroup analysis, the substantial heterogeneity of the estimated mean based on 
the IC 50 values reporting the most potent anti-SARS-CoV 3C--like protease 
(3CLpro) inhibitors (10.07 %, p < 0.0001), was significantly higher compared to 
the most active anti-SARS-CoV papain-like protease (PLpro) inhibitors (6.12 %, p 
< 0.0001). More importantly, the literature analysis revealed that fruit 
extracts of Rheum palmatum L. and the compound cryptotanshinone isolated from 
the root of Salvia miltiorrhiza (IC 50 = 0.8 ± 0.2 μmol L-1) were excellent 
candidates for anti--SARS-CoV targeting PLpro. Meanwhile, iguesterin (IC 50 = 
2.6 ± 0.6 μmol L-1) isolated from the bark of Tripterygium regelii emerged as 
the most excellent candidate for anti-SARS--CoV targeting 3CLpro. The present 
systematic review and meta-analysis provide valuable and comprehensive 
information about potential medicinal plants for SARS-CoV-2 inhibition. The 
chemotypes identified herein can be adopted as a starting point for developing 
new drugs to contain the novel virus.

© 2022 Oluwakemi Ebenezer., published by Sciendo.

DOI: 10.2478/acph-2022-0021
PMID: 36651508 [Indexed for MEDLINE]


4. Phytother Res. 2021 Mar;35(3):1298-1312. doi: 10.1002/ptr.6893. Epub 2020 Oct
9.

Potential roles of medicinal plants for the treatment of viral diseases focusing 
on COVID-19: A review.

Adhikari B(1), Marasini BP(2), Rayamajhee B(3)(4), Bhattarai BR(1), Lamichhane 
G(1), Khadayat K(1)(2), Adhikari A(1), Khanal S(2), Parajuli N(1).

Author information:
(1)Central Department of Chemistry, Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur, Nepal.
(2)Department of Biotechnology, National College, Tribhuvan University, 
Kirtipur, Nepal.
(3)School of Optometry and Vision Science, Faculty of Science, University of New 
South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, Australia.
(4)Department of Infection and Immunology, Kathmandu Research Institute for 
Biological Sciences (KRIBS), Lalitpur, Nepal.

The whole world is entangled by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic 
caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), people 
are dying in thousands each day, and without an actual medication, it seems not 
possible for the bringing this global health crisis to a stop. Natural products 
have been in constant use since ancient times and are proven by time to be 
effective. Crude extract or pure compounds isolated from medicinal plants and/or 
herbs such as Artemisia annua, Agastache rugosa, Astragalus membranaceus, Cassia 
alata, Ecklonia cava, Gymnema sylvestre, Glycyrrhizae uralensis, Houttuynia 
cordata, Lindera aggregata, Lycoris radiata, Mollugo cerviana, Polygonum 
multiflorum, Pyrrosia lingua, Saposhnikoviae divaricate, Tinospora cordifolia 
etc. have shown promising inhibitory effect against coronavirus. Several 
molecules, including acacetin, amentoflavone, allicin, blancoxanthone, curcumin, 
daidzein, diosmin, epigallocatechin-gallate, emodin, hesperidin, herbacetin, 
hirsutenone, iguesterin, jubanine G, kaempferol, lycorine, pectolinarin, 
phloroeckol, silvestrol, tanshinone I, taxifolin, rhoifolin, xanthoangelol E, 
zingerol etc. isolated from plants could also be potential drug candidates 
against COVID-19. Moreover, these could also show promising inhibitory effects 
against influenza-parainfluenza viruses, respiratory syncytial virus, severe 
acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and Middle East respiratory syndrome 
coronavirus (MERS-CoV). Here, we have reported 93 antiviral drug candidates 
which could be a potential area of research in drug discovery.

© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

DOI: 10.1002/ptr.6893
PMCID: PMC7675695
PMID: 33037698 [Indexed for MEDLINE]

Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare that there is no conflict of 
interest regarding the publication of this paper.


5. Phytother Res. 2021 Feb;35(2):864-876. doi: 10.1002/ptr.6873. Epub 2020 Sep
27.

Natural products for COVID-19 prevention and treatment regarding to previous 
coronavirus infections and novel studies.

Boozari M(1), Hosseinzadeh H(2)(3).

Author information:
(1)Department of Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy, Mashhad University of 
Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
(2)Department of Pharmacodynamics and Toxicology, School of Pharmacy, Mashhad 
University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
(3)Pharmaceutical Research Center, Pharmaceutical Technology Institute, Mashhad 
University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.

Recently, the novel life-threatening coronavirus infection (COVID-19) was 
reported at the end of 2019 in Wuhan, China, and spread throughout the world in 
little time. The effective antiviral activities of natural products have been 
proved in different studies. In this review, regarding the effective herbal 
treatments on other coronavirus infections, promising natural products for 
COVID-19 treatment are suggested. An extensive search in Google Scholar, Science 
Direct, PubMed, ISI, and Scopus was done with search words include coronavirus, 
COVID-19, SARS, MERS, natural product, herb, plant, and extract. The consumption 
of herbal medicine such as Allium sativum, Camellia sinensis, Zingiber 
officinale, Nigella sativa, Echinacea spp. Hypericum perforatum, and Glycyrrhiza 
glabra, Scutellaria baicalensis can improve the immune response. It seems that 
different types of terpenoids have promising effects in viral replication 
inhibition and could be introduced for future studies. Additionally, some 
alkaloid structures such as homoharringtonine, lycorine, and emetine have strong 
anti-coronavirus effects. Natural products can inhibit different coronavirus 
targets such as S protein (emodin, baicalin) and viral enzymes replication such 
as 3CLpro (Iguesterin), PLpro (Cryptotanshinone), helicase (Silvestrol), and 
RdRp (Sotetsuflavone). Based on previous studies, natural products can be 
introduced as preventive and therapeutic agents in the fight against 
coronavirus.

© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

DOI: 10.1002/ptr.6873
PMID: 32985017 [Indexed for MEDLINE]