Université Clermont Auvergne, CNRS, Clermont Auvergne INP, Institut Pascal, F-63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France.
Department of Pharmacognosy and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Medical University-Plovdiv, 4002 Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
Viruses. 2022 Feb 18;14(2):426. doi: 10.3390/v14020426.
In the current context of the COVID-19 pandemic, it appears that our scientific resources and the medical community are not sufficiently developed to combat rapid viral spread all over the world. A number of viruses causing epidemics have already disseminated across the world in the last few years, such as the dengue or chinkungunya virus, the Ebola virus, and other coronavirus families such as Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS-CoV) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV). The outbreaks of these infectious diseases have demonstrated the difficulty of treating an epidemic before the creation of vaccine. Different antiviral drugs already exist. However, several of them cause side effects or have lost their efficiency because of virus mutations. It is essential to develop new antiviral strategies, but ones that rely on more natural compounds to decrease the secondary effects. Polysaccharides, which have come to be known in recent years for their medicinal properties, including antiviral activities, are an excellent alternative. They are essential for the metabolism of plants, microorganisms, and animals, and are directly extractible. Polysaccharides have attracted more and more attention due to their therapeutic properties, low toxicity, and availability, and seem to be attractive candidates as antiviral drugs of tomorrow.
在当前 COVID-19 大流行的背景下，我们的科学资源和医学界似乎还没有足够的能力来应对全球范围内病毒的快速传播。在过去的几年中，已经有一些病毒在全球范围内传播，例如登革热或基孔肯雅热病毒、埃博拉病毒以及其他冠状病毒家族，如中东呼吸综合征（MERS-CoV）和严重急性呼吸综合征（SARS-CoV）。这些传染病的爆发表明，在疫苗问世之前，治疗疫情非常困难。目前已经有一些抗病毒药物，但其中一些药物由于副作用或病毒突变而失去了疗效。因此，开发新的抗病毒策略非常重要，但这些策略必须依赖更天然的化合物，以减少副作用。近年来，由于具有药用价值，包括抗病毒活性，多糖已广为人知，是一种很好的替代品。它们是植物、微生物和动物新陈代谢所必需的，并且可以直接提取。由于其治疗特性、低毒性和可用性，多糖越来越受到关注，并且作为未来抗病毒药物似乎具有吸引力。
