Ocoxin oral solution demonstrates antiviral properties in cellular models.

Ocoxin Oral Solution (OOS) and Viusid (VS) are nutritional supplements that include several natural products which affect different cellular functions, such as proliferation or the redox status. In addition, some of their constituent components have been described to exert an antiviral effect. Considering this, it was hypothesized that treatment with OOS and VS could protect from viral infections. In order to evaluate the impact of OOS and VS on viral infection, lentivirus and retrovirus whose genomes coded for green fluorescent protein were used. In addition, and as a second approach to measure viral infection, a hemagglutinin-tagged form of the mitogen-activated protein kinase ERK5 was also inserted in the retroviral vector. Viral particles produced in 293T cells were used to infect HeLa cells in the presence or absence of OOS or VS. It was observed that VS had a minimal effect on the capacity of either lentivirus or retrovirus to infect HeLa cells. However, OOS significantly reduced the infection of HeLa cells with both of these viruses. The effect was dose-dependent, reaching a maximum at a 1:100 dilution of OOS. These results suggested that, in addition to its well-known antitumoral properties, OOS may also inhibit infection with viruses. This effect is relevant since patients receiving oncological therapies are more susceptible to viral infections, and nutritional supplements such as OOS may help in reducing the severity of these potential pathogenic infections.

Medicinal Plants as Sources of Active Molecules Against COVID-19.

The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-related Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) or novel coronavirus (COVID-19) infection has been declared world pandemic causing a worrisome number of deaths, especially among vulnerable citizens, in 209 countries around the world. Although several therapeutic molecules are being tested, no effective vaccines or specific treatments have been developed. Since the COVID-19 outbreak, different traditional herbal medicines with promising results have been used alone or in combination with conventional drugs to treat infected patients. Here, we review the recent findings regarding the use of natural products to prevent or treat COVID-19 infection. Furthermore, the mechanisms responsible for this preventive or therapeutic effect are discussed. We conducted literature research using PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, and WHO website. Dissertations and theses were not considered. Only the situation reports edited by the WHO were included. The different herbal products (extracts) and purified molecules may exert their anti-SARS-CoV-2 actions by direct inhibition of the virus replication or entry. Interestingly, some products may block the ACE-2 receptor or the serine protease TMPRRS2 required by SARS-CoV-2 to infect human cells. In addition, natural products were shown to inhibit the SARS-CoV-2 life-cycle related proteins such as papain-like or chymotrypsin-like proteases. In conclusion, we suggest that natural products could be used alone or in combination as alternative medicines to treat/prevent COVID-19 infection. Moreover, their structures may offer clues for the development of anti-SARS-CoV-2 drugs.