The use of Ephedra herbs in the treatment of COVID-19

Objective: Ephedra herbs are the only extant genus in its family, Ephedraceae, and order, Ephedrales. It has been prescribed in traditional medicine for improving headaches and respiratory infections. On the other hand, because the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) causes respiratory problems and COVID-19 pandemic is the most widespread outbreak that has affected humanity in the last century, the current review aims using literature search to investigate the effects of the Ephedra herbs compounds on COVID-19 to supply a reference for its clinical application in the inhibition and remedy of COVID-19. Materials and Methods: This review was performed using articles published in various databases, including Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar, without a time limit. For this paper, the following keywords were used: "Ephedra", "coronavirus disease 2019", "COVID-19", "Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2" or "SARS CoV 2". Results: The results of this review show that the Ephedra herbs have effectiveness on COVID-19 and its compounds can bind to angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) with a high affinity and act as a blocker and prevent the binding of the virus. Conclusion: Some plants used in traditional medicine, including the Ephedra herbs, with their active compounds, can be considered a candidate with high potential for the control and prevention of COVID-19.

Possible Psychological Consequences in Public of Omicron Variant (B. 1.1. 529) of SARS-CoV-2 Identification in Iran

For the first, Omicron variants (B. 1.1. 529) of SARS-CoV-2 emerged in Botswana and South Africa, which probably compromised vaccine effectiveness and the protective capability of antibodies released via infection of former variants. A study confirmed live Omicron virus still required ACE2 to infect human cells. Public concerns were raised due to abundant mutations in the spike protein and elsewhere on the Omicron variant resulting in an escape from vaccine-elicited immunity. Besides that, multiple mutations in the receptor-binding domain and S2 affect the affinity of viruses for human ACE2 and transmissibility (1). Shortly after introducing this variant, it was identified in different countries of Europe, Asia, and other parts of the world. Some centuries such as Japan and Israel, quickly closed their borders to foreign travelers due to fear of this deadly virus. To slow the spread of the variant, the UK government re-enforced the use of the mask in schools, public transport, and shops and quarantined all travelers and people in contact with an Omicron patient for 10 days. © 2022. This is an original open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-noncommercial 4.0 International License which permits copy and redistribution of the material just in noncommercial usages with proper citation.