Self-medication Practices for COVID-19 Prevention: A Study among Medical Students in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

The corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has increased the interest in self-care strategies, including self-medication. Medical students, as future health practitioners, learn more about medications than other students. This study aimed to describe self-medication practices for preventing COVID-19 among medical students at Universitas Islam Indonesia. This observational study used a cross-sectional design and was undertaken in November- December 2020. The study sample included 336 undergraduate medical students determined using a consecutive sampling technique based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. Data were collected using an online questionnaire about self-medication practices in the preceding 3 months. Among a total of 336 students, 137 (41%) reported using self-medication intending to prevent COVID-19, and 126 (92%) of these 137 took preventive supplements, mainly vitamins C, D, and E, and omega-3. Seven students reported the use of zinc, mainly in combination with other vitamins. Students who practiced self-medication lived closer to people confirmed with COVID-19, washed their hands more often, and desinfected their belongings more frequently than their counterparts (p<0.05). The mean duration for consuming vitamins was 11-16 days. Forty students (29%) used herbal medicine to prevent COVID-19;ginger, turmeric, honey, black seed, cutcherry, and Curcuma were the most often consumed herbal remedies. Fourteen students (10%) reported taking over-the-counter medications to relieve symptoms related to COVID-19, including antipyretic, analgesic, antiseptic, antihistamine, decongestant, antitussive, and expectorant medications. Most respondents (82%) purchased their medications at pharmacies, and 11 (9%) obtained them from online shops. These findings show the high rate of self-medication using vitamins and herbal remedies for COVID-19 prevention among university medical students. Further studies are needed to explore students' knowledge about the risks of self-medication including the use of herbal medicines.Copyright © 2022 Marmara University Press.

In silico-based studies on phytochemicals from native Indian plants as potential inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2

This study aims to analyze the AntiCovid effect of Phytocompounds extracted from Native Indian Plant species by computational methods such as Molecular Docking. Through this study keeping the Indian Heritage alive we characterized the ability of these phytochemicals as inhibiting agents of the Main Protease enzyme of this Virus. The lack of any effective treatment and the reoccurrence of cases despite Vaccination necessitates the quick provision of anti-SARS-CoV-2 drugs. Natural substances are getting a lot of attention for SARS-CoV-2 therapy as they have proven antimicrobial activities and are a key source for numerous antiviral drugs. Despite the fact that this virus has several identified target receptors, Main Protease (Mpro) is crucial for viral replication. In this study, 26 phytochemicals from 10 native Indian plant species were studied. Our docking studies demonstrated that compounds Quercetin, Withaferin A, Sominone, and Nimbin were likely to be more favorable than the natural inhibitor N3, with binding energies of-8.42, -9.21, -9.95, and -8.88 kcal/mol, respectively. These four candidate natural compounds were further examined for their bioavailability scores through ADMET analysis to prove the safety of these compounds as well as their drug likeliness. Through the results it was indicated that these natural phytochemicals have a significant potential of inhibiting the SARS-CoV-2 Mpro enzyme and might be utilized to treat SARS-CoV-2 and manage public health, subject to in vitro validation in the future.

TARGETING THE MAIN PROTEASE AND THE SPIKE PROTEIN OF SARS-CoV-2 WITH NATURALLY OCCURRING COMPOUNDS FROM SOME CAMEROONIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS: AN IN-SILICO STUDY FOR DRUG DESIGNING

Despite the social distancing and hygiene rules prescribed by the WHO, the novel Corona-virus is still on the way of a significant rapid rise in deaths. Therefore, identification of chemotherapeutic drugs against Corona Viral Infection all around the world is still requires. Some medicinal plants have a valuable therapeutic effect when mixt with honey, the obtained formulations are preliminary use in Cameroon against viral infection particularly respiratory infections. In this work, we looked for the potential anti-SARS-CoV-2 molecule throw execution of in silico computational studies of six Cameroonian plants intervening in the treatment respiratory infections in apiphytotherapy. AutoDock Vina was used for docking studies against SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro) and spike (SP) proteins. We further conducted of pharmacokinetics properties and the safety profile of compounds with the top score in order to identify the best drug candidates. Totally 100 compounds were screened, of these, eighteen showed high binding affinity against SARS-CoV-2 Mpro and SP. The results suggest the effectiveness of compounds 10 and 17 obtained from Citrus Sinensis as potent drugs against SARS-CoV-2 as they tightly bind to its Mpro and SP with low binding energies. The stability of the two compounds complexed with Mpro and SP was validated through MD simulation. The availability of potent protein inhibitors and diverse of compounds from Cameroon flora scaffolds indicate the feasibility of developing potent Mpro and SP proteins inhibitors as antivirals for COVID-19. Based on further in vivo and in vitro experiments and clinical trials, some of these phytoconstituents could be proposed for effective inhibition of the replication of the SARS-CoV-2.

In silico Study Phytosterol Cymbopogon citratus and Curcuma longa as Inhibitor Agent 3C-Like Protease SARS-CoV-2.

<b>Background and Objective:</b> Lemongrass (<i>Cymbopogon citratus</i>) and turmeric (<i>Curcuma longa</i>) are widely used by the community for traditional medicinal spices and cooking spices. In the era of the COVID-19 pandemic, people use lemongrass and turmeric to increase immunity and protect the body from infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. However, the antiviral mechanisms have not been studied much. This study aims to predict the bioactivity of the phytosterol compounds of lemongrass and turmeric for COVID-19 therapy through inhibition of 3C-like protease (3CLPro) <i>in silico</i>. <b>Materials and Methods:</b> The 3CLPro protein 3D structure was downloaded from the PDB database with the access code 2ZU2 and the phytosterol compounds of lemongrass and turmeric were taken from PubChem. A total of 59 total phytosterol compounds from turmeric and lemongrass were screened for their bioactivity as an antiviral by using online PASS. Compounds with a high activating potential (Pa) were interacted with 3CLPro protein with the PyRx program and analyzed by Discovery Studio version 19.0 and LigPlus. <b>Results:</b> A total of 22 total phytosterol compounds were identified as potential antiviral agents. Based on the Pa value, 15 phytosterol compounds have the potential to act as inhibitor agents for 3CLPro SARS-CoV-2. The phytosterol compounds of lemongrass and turmeric bind to the 3CLPro protein in the N-finger domain region and the A and B domain inhibitors connect residues of the 3CLPro protein. The phytosterols of lemongrass and turmeric show a low binding affinity with 3CLPro SARS-CoV-2, indicating a strong interaction between ligand and protein. The inhibition of phytosterols against 3CLPro protein can be used as a basis for determining candidates for COVID-19 therapeutic agents. <b>Conclusion:</b> The phytosterol compounds contained in lemongrass and turmeric have the potential to act as 3CLPro inhibitors. Further studies both <i>in vitro</i> and <i>in vivo</i> need to be done to prove the inhibitory potential of phytosterol compounds.