Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38033024›Full record

ArticlePloS one2023

In silico studies of anti-oxidative and hot temperament-based phytochemicals as natural inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 Mpro.

Ramin Naderi Beni, Parisa Elyasi-Ebli, Sajjad Gharaghani, Arefeh Seyedarabi

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Article in PloS one, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
1.0field-weighted citation impact, top 20% 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

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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

0 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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 1 institution in 1 country.

Ramin Naderi BeniDepartment of Biochemistry, Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
Parisa Elyasi-EbliLaboratory of Bioinformatics and Drug Design, Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
Sajjad GharaghaniLaboratory of Bioinformatics and Drug Design, Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
Arefeh SeyedarabiDepartment of Biochemistry, Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.ORCID 0000-0003-4234-9799
University of Tehran · IR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Main protease (Mpro) of SARS-CoV-2 is considered one of the key targets due to its role in viral replication. The use of traditional phytochemicals is an important part of complementary/alternative medicine, which also accompany the concept of temperament, where it has been shown that hot medicines cure cold and cold medicines cure hot, with cold and hot pattern being associated with oxidative and anti-oxidative properties in medicine, respectively. Molecular docking in this study has demonstrated that a number of anti-oxidative and hot temperament-based phytochemicals have high binding affinities to SARS-CoV-2 Mpro, both in the monomeric and dimeric deposited states of the protein. The highest ranking phytochemicals identified in this study included savinin, betulinic acid and curcumin. Complexes of savinin, betulinic acid, curcumin as well as Nirmatrelvir (the only approved inhibitor, used for comparison) bound to SARS-CoV-2 Mpro were further subjected to molecular dynamics simulations. Subsequently, RMSD, RMSF, Rg, number of hydrogen bonds, binding free energies and residue contributions (using MM-PBSA) and buried surface area (BSA), were analysed. The computational results suggested high binding affinities of savinin, betulinic acid and curcumin to both the monomeric and dimeric deposited states of Mpro, while highlighting the lower binding energy of betulinic acid in comparison with savinin and curcumin and even Nirmatrelvir, leading to a greater stability of the betulinic acid-SARS-CoV-2 Mpro complex. Overall, based on the increasing mutation rate in the spike protein and the fact that the SARS-CoV-2 Mpro remains highly conserved, this study provides an insight into the use of phytochemicals against COVID-19 and other coronavirus diseases.

Indexed as

Coronavirus 3C ProteasesCurcuminProtease InhibitorsSARS-CoV-2Betulinic AcidLactamsLeucineLignansMolecular Docking SimulationMolecular Dynamics SimulationNitrilesPhytochemicalsPolymersProlineBetulinic AcidCoronavirus 3C ProteasesCurcuminLactamsLeucineLignansnirmatrelvirNitrilesPhytochemicalsPolymersProlineProtease Inhibitorssavinin

Identifiers

PMID38033024
PMCPMC10688677
OpenAlexW4389166593

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Registered trials

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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.