RESUMEN
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.
RESUMEN
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.
RESUMEN
Context: During the past three decades, the Middle East has experienced three major viral epidemics. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a pulmonary disease which has been first reported in China in the early third decade of the 21st century and quickly infected people in Asia, the Middle East, and the entire world. This pandemic is life-threatening and has caused widespread financial losses;however, the exact extent of the damage is still unclear. Evidence Acquisition: This review study aimed to present the latest on the COVID-19 symptoms, pathogenicity, host immune responses, etiology and epidemiology, transmission routes in the Middle Eastern countries, especially Iran, and the role this country plays in the spread of the disease. The search was conducted using Google scholar, PubMed, Scopus, and ISI Web of Science to identify relevant studies published from 2019 to 2021.