Department of Biochemistry, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysuru, India.
Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research, Ghaziabad, India.
Front Immunol. 2020 Oct 7;11:570122. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2020.570122. eCollection 2020.
The COVID-19 is an acute and contagious disease characterized by pneumonia and ARDS. The disease is caused by SARS-CoV-2, which belongs to the family of along with MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV-1. The virus has the positive-sense RNA as its genome encoding for ~26 proteins that work together for the virus survival, replication, and spread in the host. The virus gets transmitted through the contact of aerosol droplets from infected persons. The pathogenesis of COVID-19 is highly complex and involves suppression of host antiviral and innate immune response, induction of oxidative stress followed by hyper inflammation described as the "cytokine storm," causing the acute lung injury, tissue fibrosis, and pneumonia. Currently, several vaccines and drugs are being evaluated for their efficacy, safety, and for determination of doses for COVID-19 and this requires considerable time for their validation. Therefore, exploring the repurposing of natural compounds may provide alternatives against COVID-19. Several nutraceuticals have a proven ability of immune-boosting, antiviral, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory effects. These include Zn, vitamin D, vitamin C, curcumin, cinnamaldehyde, probiotics, selenium, lactoferrin, quercetin, etc. Grouping some of these phytonutrients in the right combination in the form of a food supplement may help to boost the immune system, prevent virus spread, preclude the disease progression to severe stage, and further suppress the hyper inflammation providing both prophylactic and therapeutic support against COVID-19.
新型冠状病毒肺炎（COVID-19）是一种急性传染性疾病，以肺炎和急性呼吸窘迫综合征为特征。该疾病由 SARS-CoV-2 引起，它与中东呼吸综合征冠状病毒（MERS-CoV）和严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒（SARS-CoV-1）同属冠状病毒科。该病毒的基因组为正链 RNA，编码约 26 种蛋白，这些蛋白协同作用以帮助病毒在宿主中存活、复制和传播。病毒通过感染者的飞沫气溶胶接触传播。COVID-19 的发病机制非常复杂，涉及宿主抗病毒和固有免疫反应的抑制、氧化应激的诱导，随后是被称为“细胞因子风暴”的过度炎症，导致急性肺损伤、组织纤维化和肺炎。目前，正在评估几种疫苗和药物的疗效、安全性以及 COVID-19 的剂量，这需要相当长的时间来验证。因此，探索天然化合物的再利用可能为 COVID-19 提供替代治疗方法。一些营养保健品具有增强免疫、抗病毒、抗氧化、抗炎的作用，已被证实。这些包括锌、维生素 D、维生素 C、姜黄素、肉桂醛、益生菌、硒、乳铁蛋白、槲皮素等。将这些植物营养素中的一些以正确的组合形式分组为膳食补充剂，可能有助于增强免疫系统，阻止病毒传播，防止疾病向严重阶段发展，进一步抑制过度炎症，为 COVID-19 提供预防和治疗支持。
