ABSTRACT
In China, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been widely used for coronavirus infectious disease 2019 (COVID-19) prevention, treatment, and recovery and has played a part in the battle against the disease. A variety of TCM treatments have been recommended for different stages of COVID-19. But, to the best of our knowledge, a comprehensive database for storing and organizing anti-COVID TCM treatments is still lacking. Herein, we developed TCM2COVID, a manually curated resource of anti-COVID TCM formulas, natural products (NPs), and herbs. The current version of TCM2COVID (1) documents over 280 TCM formulas (including over 300 herbs) with detailed clinical evidence and therapeutic mechanism information; (2) records over 80 NPs with detailed potential therapeutic mechanisms; and (3) launches a useful web server for querying, analyzing and visualizing documented formulas similar to those supplied by the user (formula similarity analysis). In summary, TCM2COVD provides a user-friendly and practical platform for documenting, querying, and browsing anti-COVID TCM treatments, and will help in the development and elucidation of the mechanisms of action of new anti-COVID TCM therapies to support the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic. TCM2COVID is freely available at http://zhangy-lab.cn/tcm2covid/.
ABSTRACT
Poria cocos is a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) that can clear dampness, promote diuresis, and strengthen the spleen and stomach. Poria cocos has been detected in many TCM compounds that are used for COVID-19 intervention. However, the active ingredients and mechanisms associated with the effect of Poria cocos on COVID-19 remain unclear. In this paper, the active ingredients of Poria cocos, along with their potential targets related to COVID-19, were screened using TCMSP, GeneCards, and other databases, by means of network pharmacology. We then investigated the active components, potential targets, and interactions, that are associated with COVID-19 intervention. The primary protease of COVID-19, Mpro, is currently a key target in the design of potential inhibitors. Molecular docking techniques and molecular dynamics simulations demonstrated that the active components of Poria cocos could bind stably to the active site of Mpro with high levels of binding activity. Pachymic acid is based on a triterpene structure and was identified as the main component of Poria cocos; its triterpene active component has low binding energy with Mpro. The pachymic acid of Mpro activity was further characterized and the IC50 was determined to be 18.607 µmol L-1. Our results indicate that pachymic acid exhibits a certain inhibitory effect on the Mpro protease.
ABSTRACT
Poria cocos is a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) that can clear dampness, promote diuresis, and strengthen the spleen and stomach. Poria cocos has been detected in many TCM compounds that are used for COVID-19 intervention. However, the active ingredients and mechanisms associated with the effect of Poria cocos on COVID-19 remain unclear. In this paper, the active ingredients of Poria cocos, along with their potential targets related to COVID-19, were screened using TCMSP, GeneCards, and other databases, by means of network pharmacology. We then investigated the active components, potential targets, and interactions, that are associated with COVID-19 intervention. The primary protease of COVID-19, Mpro, is currently a key target in the design of potential inhibitors. Molecular docking techniques and molecular dynamics simulations demonstrated that the active components of Poria cocos could bind stably to the active site of Mpro with high levels of binding activity. Pachymic acid is based on a triterpene structure and was identified as the main component of Poria cocos;its triterpene active component has low binding energy with Mpro. The pachymic acid of Mpro activity was further characterized and the IC50 was determined to be 18.607 μmol L−1. Our results indicate that pachymic acid exhibits a certain inhibitory effect on the Mpro protease. The inhibition of Mpro, the primary protease of COVID-19, by Poria cocos.
ABSTRACT
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a newly identified strain of coronavirus in the human body and was reported in Wuhan at the end of 2019. So far, the epidemic is continuing and very serious, with the number of infections and deaths increasing. Despite active investigations around the world to better understand the dynamics of transmission and the scope of clinical disease, COVID-19 continues to spread rapidly from person to person. The common signs and symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 infection include fever, fatigue, dry cough, and dyspnea; in severe cases, patients may have acute respiratory distress syndrome, septic shock, metabolic acidosis difficult to treat and coagulation disorder. However, some patients who test positive for SARS-CoV-2 in their respiratory tract may not have such clinical signs and symptoms. This report presents a case study analysis of a patient admitted in the Fourth Taiyuan People's Hospital, who had suffered traumatic injuries from a car accident and survived COVID-19, with pleural effusion as the initial symptom. We report a case of 2019-NCOV with pleural effusion as the first symptom. Describe in detail the differential diagnosis, diagnosis, clinical management, and cure of this case. In order to combat the novel CoronaviruscoVID-19 in the process to provide lessons and help.