ArticleJournal of ethnopharmacology2021
Active components in Ephedra sinica stapf disrupt the interaction between ACE2 and SARS-CoV-2 RBD: Potent COVID-19 therapeutic agents.
Article in Journal of ethnopharmacology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers.
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21 citing papers in PubMed, 51 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Traditional Chinese Medicine for Viral Pneumonia Therapy: Pharmacological Basis and Mechanistic Insights.International journal of biological sciences · 2025Review
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- Natural products as a source of Coronavirus entry inhibitors.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2024Review
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- Phytochemical Screening, Antioxidant Potential, and LC-ESI-MS Profiling of Ephedra alata and Ephedra altissima Seeds Naturally Growing in Tunisia.Applied biochemistry and biotechnology · 2023Article
- Xuanfei Baidu decoction in the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): Efficacy and potential mechanisms.Heliyon · 2023Review
- Potential herb‒drug interactions between anti-COVID-19 drugs and traditional Chinese medicine.Acta pharmaceutica Sinica. B · 2023Review
- Inhibitory Activity ofPlants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Ephedrae Herba: A Review of Its Phytochemistry, Pharmacology, Clinical Application, and Alkaloid Toxicity.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
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- Phytochemical Discrimination, Biological Activity and Molecular Docking of Water-Soluble Inhibitors fromMolecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Methodology-Centered Review of Molecular Modeling, Simulation, and Prediction of SARS-CoV-2.Chemical reviews · 2022Review
- Uncovering the information immunology journals transmitted for COVID-19: A bibliometric and visualization analysis.Frontiers in immunology · 2022Article
- The microbial production of kynurenic acid usingFrontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2022Article
- Traditional Chinese Medicine in Treatment of COVID-19 and Viral Disease: Efficacies and Clinical Evidence.International journal of general medicine · 2022Review
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
ethnopharmacological relevanceEphedra sinica Stapf is a widely used folk medicine in Asia to treat lung diseases, such as cold, cough and asthma. Many efforts have revealed that some traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) prescriptions containing Ephedra sinica could effectively alleviate the symptoms and prevent the fatal deterioration of COVID-19. AIM OF THE STUDY: The present study aims to discover active compounds in Ephedra sinica disrupting the interaction between angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein receptor-binding domain (SARS-CoV-2 RBD) to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 virus infection. MATERIALS AND
methodsThe ethanol extracts of Ephedra sinica were prepared. Activity guided isolation of constituents was carried out by measuring the inhibitory activity on ACE2-RBD interaction. The structures of active compounds were identified by HPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS and NMR. To testify the contribution of main components for the inhibitory activity, different samples were prepared by components knock-out strategy. The mechanism of compounds inhibiting protein-protein interaction (PPI) was explored by competition inhibition assays, surface plasmon resonance (SPR) assays and molecular docking. SARS-CoV-2 S protein-pseudoviruses were used to observe the viropexis effect in cells.
resultsEphedra sinica extracts (ESE) could effectively inhibit the interaction between ACE2 and SARS-CoV-2 RBD (IC
conclusionThese findings suggested that quinoline-2-carboxylic acids in Ephedra sinica could be considered as potential therapeutic agents for COVID-19. Further, this study provided some justification for the ethnomedicinal use of Ephedra sinica for COVID-19.
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