key: cord-1039115-190e938u
authors: Haq, Faiz Ul; Roman, Muhammad; Ahmad, Kashif; Rahman, Saeed Ur; Shah, Syed Murtaza Ali; Suleman, Naveed; Ullah, Sami; Ahmad, Iftekhar; Ullah, Wajahat
title: Artemisia annua: Trials are needed for COVID‐19
date: 2020-05-27
journal: Phytother Res
DOI: 10.1002/ptr.6733
sha: 6989c9e2091f0dc5628a2bd9d07e1af183318c8f
doc_id: 1039115
cord_uid: 190e938u

In December 2019, a number of pneumonia cases associated with 2019 novel coronavirus occurred in Wuhan, China. Later taxonomist name the virus SARS‐CoV‐2 and disease called COVID‐19. No approved vaccine or treatment are available for this virus. Current technical guide is related to address therapeutic option for SARS‐CoV‐2. COVID‐19 is great challenge for scientist across the globe. Bioactive compound present in Artemisia annua against, hepatitis B virus, bovine viral diarrhea virus, and Epstein–Barr virus. A. annua have shown significant activity against SARS coronavirus that occur in 2002. This agent is cheap and easily available and will be of great value if they have efficacy against SARS‐CoV‐2. Scientific attention is needed toward this agent to address for the treatment of COVID‐19.

. In China, natural compounds has been frequently used in combination with conventional medicine to treat SARS. Some evidence demonstrated that the traditional herbal medicine is effective against SARS-CoV infectious diseases (Lin, Han, & Yang, 2003) .

Artemisinin is derivatives of A. annua that have been commercialized as antimalarial drugs (Efferth et al., 2008) . As well as the value of artemisinin is not limited to the treatment of malaria, it is most promising natural products that is important candidates accounting for the antiviral effects (Karamoddini, Emami, Ghannad, Sani, & Sahebkar, 2011 ). In addition A. annua contain sterols that show virus inhibitory potential (Khan, Jain, Bhakuni, Zaim, & Thakur, 1991) .

Currently, there are supportive and nonspecific treatment to relieve patient symptom. For prophylaxis and treatment of virus the antiviral agent must be safe, adequate, and cost should be preferably low. In China, most of the infected patient receiving traditional Chinese medicine for treatment of COVID-19 (Yang, Islam, Wang, Li, & Chen, 2020) . The subset methanolic extracts obtained from aerial parts of A. annua had the highest antiviral activity than acyclovir against Herpes Simplex virus type 1. Aerial subsets extracts of A. annua contain bioactive compound that may be an appropriate candidate for antiviral therapies (Karamoddini et al., 2011) . It has a history of being safe and easily available for therapies.

A trial of lopinavir-ritonavir in adults hospitalized with severe Covid-19

How to reduce the likelihood of coronavirus-19 (CoV-19 or SARS-CoV-2) infection and lung inflammation mediated by IL-1

Antioxidants as potential therapeutics for lung fibrosis

Discovering drugs to treat coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

The antiviral activities of artemisinin and artesunate

Flavonoids from Artemisia annua L. as antioxidants and their potential synergism with artemisinin against malaria and cancer

Best practice in research -overcoming common challenges in phytopharmacological research

Antiviral activities of aerial subsets of Artemisia species against herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV1) in vitro

Occurrence of some antiviral sterols in Artemisia annua

Identification of natural compounds with antiviral activities against SARS-associated coronavirus

Clinical observation on 103 patients of severe acute respiratory syndrome treated by integrative traditional Chinese and Western medicine

Use of antiviral drugs to reduce COVID-19 transmission. The Lancet Global Health

Anti-profibrotic effects of artesunate on bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in Sprague Dawley rats

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) situation report -66

Traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of patients infected with 2019-new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2): A review and perspective