ABSTRACT
In recent years, with the frequent occurrence of viral diseases accompanied by high morbidity and mortality rates, there has been an increasing awareness of importance of antiviral drugs research. Traditional Chinese medicine contain biologically structurally diverse bioactive substances that provide important template structures for pharmaceutical research. Because of its novelty, multicomponent and multi-target characteristics, it is a valuable source for new drug development. The antiviral mechanisms of active components of traditional Chinese medicines include inhibition of viral replication, block binding of virus with receptor, directly killing virus, enhancement of the immune system and inhibition of cytokines/chemokines responses, etc. The active components of traditional Chinese medicine with antiviral active ingredients based on the mechanism of antiviral action were reviewed in this paper, in order to provide a basis for development of antiviral natural drugs to cope with the virus epidemic including the new variant of SARS-CoV-2 and other virus outbreaks that may occur in the future. © 2022 Editorial Office of Chinese Traditional and Herbal Drugs. All rights reserved.