Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34900242›Full record

ArticleFood science & nutrition2021

Targeting SARS-CoV-2 with Chaga mushroom: An in silico study toward developing a natural antiviral compound.

Jehane Ibrahim Eid, Biswadeep Das, Majdah Mohamed Al-Tuwaijri, Wesam Taha Basal

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Food science & nutrition, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing papers in PubMed
4.6field-weighted citation impact, top 6% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

10 citing papers in PubMed, 19 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Nutrients · 2026
    Review
  2. Natural Products and Health Care Functions ofCurrent issues in molecular biology · 2025
    Review
  3. β-glucan nanoparticles alleviate acute asthma by suppressing ferroptosis and DNA damage in mice.Apoptosis : an international journal on programmed cell death · 2025
    Article
  4. Review
  5. Review
  6. Review
  7. Article
  8. Mushrooms as future generation healthy foods.Frontiers in nutrition · 2022
    Review
  9. The Mechanisms of Lipid Vesicle Fusion Inhibition by Extracts of Chaga and Buckthorn Leaves.Biochemistry (Moscow) Supplement. Series A, Membrane and cell biology · 2022
    Article
  10. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.

Jehane Ibrahim EidDepartment of Zoology Faculty of Science Cairo University Cairo Egypt.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8127-039X
Biswadeep DasSchool of Biotechnology KIIT University Bhubaneswar India.
Majdah Mohamed Al-TuwaijriDepartment of Biology Faculty of Applied Science Umm Al-Qura University Makkah Al-Mukarramah Saudi Arabia.
Wesam Taha BasalDepartment of Zoology Faculty of Science Cairo University Cairo Egypt.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5293-5500
Cairo University · EGKIIT University · INUmm al-Qura University · SA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has caused large-scale global outbreaks and mainly mediates host cell entry through the interaction of its spike (S) protein with the human angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE-2) receptor. As there is no effective treatment for SARS-CoV-2 to date, it is imperative to explore the efficacy of new compounds that possess potential antiviral activity. In this study, we assessed the potential binding interaction of the beneficial components of Chaga mushroom, a natural anti-inflammatory and immune booster with that of the SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain (RBD) using molecular docking, MD simulation, and phylogenetic analysis. Beta glycan, betulinic acid, and galactomannan constituents of Chaga mushroom exhibited strong binding interaction (-7.4 to -8.6 kcal/mol) forming multivalent hydrogen and non-polar bonds with the viral S1-carboxy-terminal domain of the RBD. Specifically, the best interacting sites for beta glycan comprised ASN-440, SER 373, TRP-436, ASN-343, and ARG 509 with average binding energy of -8.4 kcal/mol. The best interacting sites of galactomannan included ASN-437, SER 373, TRP-436, ASN-343, and ALA 344 with a mean binding energy of -7.4 kcal/mol; and the best interacting sites of betulinic acid were ASN-437, SER 373, TRP-436, PHE 342, ARG 509, and ALA 344 that strongly interacted with the S-protein (ΔG = -8.1 kcal/mol). The docking results were also compared with an S-protein binding analog, NAG and depicted similar binding affinities compared with that of the ligands (-8.67 kcal/mol). In addition, phylogenetic analysis using global isolates depicted that the current SARS-CoV-2 isolates possessed a furin cleavage site (NSPRRA) in the RBD, which was absent in the previous isolates that indicated increased efficacy of the present virus for enhanced infection through increased interaction with ACE-2. The results showed that Chaga could be an effective natural antiviral that can supplement the current anti-SARS-CoV-2 drugs.

Indexed as

beta‐glucanbetulinic aciddockinggalactomannanInonotus obliquusSARS‐CoV‐2

Identifiers

PMID34900242
PMCPMC8645752
OpenAlexW3207010963

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.