Worldwide, there are plants known as psychoactive plants that naturally contain psychedelic active components. They have a high concentration of neuroprotective substances that can interact with the nervous system to produce psychedelic effects. Despite these plants' hazardous potential, recreational use of them is on the rise because of their psychoactive properties. Early neuroscience studies relied heavily on psychoactive plants and plant natural products (NPs), and both recreational and hazardous NPs have contributed significantly to the understanding of almost all neurotransmitter systems. Worldwide, there are many plants that contain psychoactive properties, and people have been using them for ages. Psychoactive plant compounds may significantly alter how people perceive the world.
1. Curr Drug Discov Technol. 2021;18(5):e17092020186048. doi: 10.2174/1570163817999200918103705. Identification of Main Protease of Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (M(pro)) Inhibitors from Melissa officinalis. Elekofehinti OO(1), Iwaloye O(1), Famusiwa CD(1), Akinseye O(1), Rocha JBT(2). Author information: (1)Department of Biochemistry, Bioinformatics and Molecular Biology Unit, Federal University of Technology Akure, Ondo State, P.M.B 704, Akure, Nigeria. (2)Biochemical Toxicology Unit, Department of Chemistry, CCNE, Federal University of Santa Maria, Santa Maria, RS, Brazil. BACKGROUND: The recent outbreak of Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19), which has rapidly spread around the world in about three months with tens of thousands of deaths recorded so far is a global concern. An urgent need for potential therapeutic intervention is of necessity. Mpro is an attractive druggable target for the development of anti-COVID-19 drug development. METHODS: Compounds previously characterized by Melissa officinalis were queried against the main protease of coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 using a computational approach. RESULTS: Melitric acid A and salvanolic acid A had higher affinity than lopinavir and ivermectin using both AutodockVina and XP docking algorithms. The computational approach was employed in the generation of the QSAR model using automated QSAR, and in the docking of ligands from Melissa officinalis with SARS-CoV-2 Mpro inhibitors. The best model obtained was KPLS_Radial_ 28 (R2 = 0.8548 and Q2=0.6474, which was used in predicting the bioactivity of the lead compounds. Molecular mechanics based MM-GBSA confirmed salvanolic acid A as the compound with the highest free energy and predicted bioactivity of 4.777; it interacted with His-41 of the catalytic dyad (Cys145-His41) of SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro), as this may hinder the cutting of inactive viral protein into active ones capable of replication. CONCLUSION: Salvanolic acid A can be further evaluated as a potential Mpro inhibitor. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net. DOI: 10.2174/1570163817999200918103705 PMID: 32957889 [Indexed for MEDLINE]