TRADITIONAL TO RECENT APPROACHES IN HERBAL MEDICINE THERAPY OF COVID-19

Mohamed S. Refaey; Marwa A.A. Fayed

doi:10.22270/ujpr.v5i5.491

Mohamed S. Refaey Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Sadat City, Menoufia 32897, Egypt.
Marwa A.A. Fayed Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Sadat City, Menoufia 32897, Egypt.

10.22270/ujpr.v5i5.491

Keywords:

COVID-19, influenza, pneumonia, rhinovirus, SARS, traditional medicine

Abstract

Coronavirus pneumonia disease (COVID-19) is a newly identified coronavirus strain that causes symptoms ranging from cold-like signs to deaths that reached millions around the world. Until this time, there is no approved vaccine has been invented for clinical use, therefore, developing an effective program for therapy is of high priority to save the lives of patients and protect others from being infected. Nature resembles a huge reservoir of anti-infectious compounds, from which innovative ideas, therapies, and products can be deduced. Chinese herbal medicine had succeeded in the treatment of other coronavirus pneumonia such as SARS, MERS and, H7N9 avian influenza which gives us hope to find the targeted remedy in the traditionally used natural herbs consumed by natives from different regions. This work aims to highlight the use of natural traditional remedies to treat viral pneumonia. This systematic review will include studies of the effects of traditional herbal medicine and its role in the treatment of COVID-19 pneumonia. Although promising results were obtained in many cases, but, only a few studies reported the fractional characterization of bioactive principles and/or mechanisms of action. It is requested that pharmaceutical industries, government agencies, and the scientific community will have a gaze at some of these plants for future research and, to find a potential drug candidates for the development of anti-SARSCoV-2 therapeutics in the near future.