Phytochemical Compounds Present in COVI-MXG Herbal Preparation Inhibits RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase from SARS-CoV-2: Virtual Screening

Abstract Background: COVID-19 pandemic disease, caused by coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is expressed as severe acute respiratory syndrome. There are currently no proven effective therapeutic agents or vaccines against the virus. However clinical management includes infection prevention, control measures, supportive care using drug therapy based on previous scientific experience, pathophysiology and pharmacology of the drug. Some of the therapeutic agents exploited include; antiviral and antimalarial agents (remdesivir, hydroxychloroquine, chloroquine, lopinavir, umifenovir, favipiravir, and oseltamivir), Zinc and selenium. There are claims of herbal preparations with palliative or therapeutic effects. The novel formulation of herbal preparation, COVI-MXG for the management of Covid-19 contains a unique combination of five (5) plants. In silico studies was carried out using robust methods and software to evaluate the plant constituents to determine its possible antiviral activity, safety and pharmacokinetic profile. Results: Pharmacokinetic predictions showed phytochemicals with varying degrees of gastrointestinal absorption rates and blood brain barrier permeability. Toxicity class fall between 3 and 5 with high LD50 values. Conclusions: When compared with the listed therapeutic agents, the phytochemical compounds present in COVI-MXG showed varying degrees of binding affinities for SARS-CoV-2 (7BV2.pdb) better than the drugs currently in use at the target sites. The preparation contains high concentration of Zinc and other micronutrients.