Key Laboratory of Green Natural Products and Pharmaceutical Intermediates in Colleges and Universities of Shandong Province, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Qufu Normal University, Qufu, 273165, PR China; School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, PR China.
School of Physics and Physical Engineering, Qufu Normal University, Qufu, 273165, PR China.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2021 Apr 24;270:113869. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2021.113869. Epub 2021 Jan 21.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a highly pathogenic virus that has spread rapidly across the entire world. There is a critical need to develop safe and effective drugs, especially broad-spectrum antiviral and organ protection agents in order to treat and prevent this dangerous disease. It is possible that Chinese herbal medicine may play an essential role in the treatment of patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection.
We aim to review the use of Chinese herbal medicine in the treatment of COVID-19 both in vitro and in clinical practice. Our goal was to provide a better understanding of the potential therapeutic effects of Chinese herbal medicine and to establish a "Chinese protocol" for the treatment of COVID-19.
We systematically reviewed published research relating to traditional Chinese herbal medicines and the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 from inception to the 6 January 2021 by screening a range of digital databases (Web of Science, bioRxiv, medRxiv, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, X-MOL, Wanfang Data, Google Scholar, PubMed, Elsevier, and other resources) and public platforms relating to the management of clinical trials. We included the active ingredients of Chinese herbal medicines, monomer preparations, crude extracts, and formulas for the treatment of COVID-19.
In mainland China, a range of Chinese herbal medicines have been recognized as very promising anti-SARS-CoV-2 agents, including active ingredients (quercetagetin, osajin, tetrandrine, proscillaridin A, and dihydromyricetin), monomer preparations (xiyanping injection, matrine-sodium chloride injection, diammonium glycyrrhizinate enteric-coated capsules, and sodium aescinate injection), crude extracts (Scutellariae Radix extract and garlic essential oil), and formulas (Qingfei Paidu decoction, Lianhuaqingwen capsules, and Pudilan Xiaoyan oral liquid). All these agents have potential activity against SARS-CoV-2 and have attracted significant attention due to their activities both in vitro and in clinical practice.
As a key component of the COVID-19 treatment regimen, Chinese herbal medicines have played an irreplaceable role in the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection. The "Chinese protocol" has already demonstrated clear clinical importance. The use of Chinese herbal medicines that are capable of inhibiting SARS-Cov-2 infection may help to address this immediate unmet clinical need and may be attractive to other countries that are also seeking new options for effective COVID-19 treatment. Our analyses suggest that countries outside of China should also consider protocols involving Chinese herbal medicines combat this fast-spreading viral infection.
ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL 相关性：严重急性呼吸系统综合症冠状病毒 2（SARS-CoV-2）感染会导致 2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19），这是一种高致病性病毒，已迅速在全球范围内传播。因此，开发安全有效的药物（尤其是广谱抗病毒和器官保护剂）来治疗和预防这种危险疾病至关重要。中草药在治疗 SARS-CoV-2 感染患者方面可能发挥重要作用。
本综述旨在研究中草药在体外和临床实践中治疗 COVID-19 的应用。我们的目标是更好地了解中草药的潜在治疗效果，并为 COVID-19 的治疗建立一个“中国方案”。
我们通过筛选各种数字数据库（Web of Science、bioRxiv、medRxiv、中国国家知识基础设施、X-MOL、万方数据、谷歌学术、PubMed、Elsevier 以及其他与临床试验管理相关的资源）和公共平台，系统地回顾了从成立到 2021 年 1 月 6 日发表的有关传统中草药和 SARS-CoV-2 治疗的研究。我们纳入了中草药的活性成分、单体制剂、粗提取物和治疗 COVID-19 的配方。
在中国内地，多种中草药被认为是非常有前途的抗 SARS-CoV-2 药物，包括活性成分（槲皮素、奥斯辛、汉防己甲素、普罗司卡林 A 和二氢杨梅素）、单体制剂（喜炎平注射液、苦参氯化钠注射液、甘草酸二铵肠溶胶囊和七叶皂苷钠注射液）、粗提取物（黄芩提取物和大蒜精油）和配方（清肺排毒汤、连花清瘟胶囊和蒲地蓝消炎口服液）。所有这些药物对 SARS-CoV-2 均具有潜在的活性，并且由于其在体外和临床实践中的活性而受到广泛关注。
作为 COVID-19 治疗方案的重要组成部分，中草药在 SARS-CoV-2 感染的治疗中发挥了不可替代的作用。“中国方案”已经显示出明确的临床重要性。使用能够抑制 SARS-CoV-2 感染的中草药可能有助于解决这一紧迫的临床需求，并且可能对其他国家也具有吸引力，这些国家也在寻求有效的 COVID-19 治疗新选择。我们的分析表明，中国以外的国家也应考虑使用中草药来对抗这种快速传播的病毒感染。
