Amentoflavone, New Hope against SARS-CoV-2: An Outlook through its Scientific Records and an in silico Study

Rajib Hossain; Muhammad Torequl Islam; Pranta Ray; Divya Jain; Abu Saim Mohammad Saikat; Lutfun Nahar; Anupam Das Talukdar; Satyajit Sarker; Seyed Abdulmajid Ayatollahi; Miquel Martorell; Farzad Kobarfard; Natália Cruz-Martins; Khattab Al-Khafaji; Anca Oana Docea; Daniela Calina

Amentoflavone, New Hope against SARS-CoV-2: An Outlook through its Scientific Records and an in silico Study

Articles

Abstract

Pharmacognosy Research,2021,13,3,149-157.

DOI:10.5530/pres.13.3.7

Published:June 2021

Type:Original Article

Authors:

Author(s) affiliations:

Rajib Hossain¹, Muhammad Torequl Islam¹, Pranta Ray², Divya Jain³, Abu Saim Mohammad Saikat⁴, Lutfun Nahar⁵, Anupam Das Talukdar⁶, Satyajit Sarker⁷, Seyed Abdulmajid Ayatollahi^8,9, Miquel Martorell¹⁰, Farzad Kobarfard^8,11, Natália Cruz-Martins^12,13,14, Khattab Al-Khafaji¹⁵, Anca Oana Docea¹⁶, Daniela Calina¹⁷, Javad Sharifi-Rad^8,18,*

¹Department of Pharmacy, Life Science Faculty, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science and Technology University, Gopalganj, Dhaka, BANGLADESH.

²Department of Biomedical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, CHINA.

³Department of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Banasthali Vidyapith, Rajasthan, INDIA.

⁴Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science and Technology University, Gopalganj, BANGLADESH.

⁵Faculty of Science, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool L33AF, England, UK.

⁶Ethnobotany and Natural product Research Laboratory, Department of Life Science and Bioinformatics, Assam University, Silchar-11, Assam, India.

⁷School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool L3 3AF, England, UK.

⁸Phytochemistry Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IRAN. ⁹Department of Pharmacognosy and Biotechnology, School of Pharmacy, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IRAN.

¹⁰Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Pharmacy, and Centre for Healthy Living, University of Concepción, Concepción, CHILE.

¹¹Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IRAN.

¹²Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Alameda Professor Hernâni Monteiro, Porto, PORTUGAL.

¹³Institute for Research and Innovation in Health (i3S), University of Porto, Porto, PORTUGAL.

¹⁴Laboratory of Neuropsychophysiology, Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, PORTUGAL.

¹⁵Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Gaziantep University, Gaziantep, TURKEY. ¹⁶Department of Toxicology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, Craiova, ROMANIA.

¹⁷Department of Clinical Pharmacy, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, Craiova, ROMANIA.

¹⁸Facultad de Medicina, Universidad del Azuay, Cuenca, ECUADOR.

Abstract:

Background: The plant-derived bioflavonoid amentoflavone has many important biological activities, among them remarkable antiviral effects, even against severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus (SARS-CoV). It inhibits severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) with an IC₅₀ value of 8.3 μM. TMPRSS-2 activity is now thought to be the only factor necessary for cell entry and viral pathogenesis). In comparison, 3CL^PRO is needed for COVID-19 replication and maturation during its life cycle. Aim: This study aims to perform an in silico study on amentoflavone activity against structural and non-structural severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV)-2 3-chymotrypsin-like protease (3CL^PRO) and human transmembrane protease serine 2 (TMPRSS-2) proteins. Materials and Methods: Molecular docking studies were carried out using compounds against 3CL^PRO and TMPRSS-2 proteins through the Swiss model, Uniport, PROCHECK, Swiss PDB viewer, PyMol, PyRx, and Desmond (Schrödinger package) computerized software. Results: Amentoflavone showed strong interactions -9.5 and -7.4 kcal/mol with 3CL^PRO and TMPRSS2 proteins, respectively. In any case, it had higher binding affinities than currently approved antiviral drugs, which are underutilized in coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Conclusion: Amentoflavone may be one of the potential leads (drug candidate) to fight human coronavirus, including SARS-CoV-2. Further in vivo studies are needed to support the findings of this study.