Potential Treatment of COVID-19 with Traditional Chinese Medicine: What Herbs Can Help Win the Battle with SARS-CoV-2?
Lin Li,
Yuzheng Wu,
Jiabao Wang,
Huimin Yan,
Jia Lu,
Yu Wang,
Boli Zhang,
Junhua Zhang,
Jian Yang,
Xiaoying Wang,
Min Zhang,
Yue Li,
Lin Miao,
Han Zhang
Affiliations
Lin Li
State Key Laboratory of Component-Based Chinese Medicine, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China; Key Laboratory of Pharmacology of Traditional Chinese Medical Formulae, Ministry of Education, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China; Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China
Yuzheng Wu
State Key Laboratory of Component-Based Chinese Medicine, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China; Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China; Laboratory of Pharmacology of TCM Formulae Co-Constructed by the Province–Ministry, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China
Jiabao Wang
State Key Laboratory of Component-Based Chinese Medicine, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China; Key Laboratory of Pharmacology of Traditional Chinese Medical Formulae, Ministry of Education, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China; Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China
Huimin Yan
State Key Laboratory of Component-Based Chinese Medicine, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China; Key Laboratory of Pharmacology of Traditional Chinese Medical Formulae, Ministry of Education, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China; Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China
Jia Lu
State Key Laboratory of Component-Based Chinese Medicine, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China; Key Laboratory of Pharmacology of Traditional Chinese Medical Formulae, Ministry of Education, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China; Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China
Yu Wang
State Key Laboratory of Component-Based Chinese Medicine, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China; School of Integrative Medicine, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China
Boli Zhang
State Key Laboratory of Component-Based Chinese Medicine, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China; Key Laboratory of Pharmacology of Traditional Chinese Medical Formulae, Ministry of Education, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China; Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China
Junhua Zhang
State Key Laboratory of Component-Based Chinese Medicine, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China; Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China; Evidence-Based Medicine Center, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China
Jian Yang
State Key Laboratory of Component-Based Chinese Medicine, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China; Key Laboratory of Pharmacology of Traditional Chinese Medical Formulae, Ministry of Education, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China; Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China
Xiaoying Wang
State Key Laboratory of Component-Based Chinese Medicine, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China; College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China
Min Zhang
State Key Laboratory of Component-Based Chinese Medicine, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China; Key Laboratory of Pharmacology of Traditional Chinese Medical Formulae, Ministry of Education, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China; Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China
Yue Li
State Key Laboratory of Component-Based Chinese Medicine, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China; Key Laboratory of Pharmacology of Traditional Chinese Medical Formulae, Ministry of Education, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China; Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China; Corresponding authors.
Lin Miao
State Key Laboratory of Component-Based Chinese Medicine, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China; Key Laboratory of Pharmacology of Traditional Chinese Medical Formulae, Ministry of Education, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China; Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China; Corresponding authors.
Han Zhang
State Key Laboratory of Component-Based Chinese Medicine, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China; Key Laboratory of Pharmacology of Traditional Chinese Medical Formulae, Ministry of Education, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China; Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China; Corresponding authors.
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been successfully applied worldwide in the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). However, the pharmacological mechanisms underlying this success remain unclear. Hence, the aim of this review is to combine pharmacological assays based on the theory of TCM in order to elucidate the potential signaling pathways, targets, active compounds, and formulas of herbs that are involved in the TCM treatment of COVID-19, which exhibits combatting viral infections, immune regulation, and amelioration of lung injury and fibrosis. Extensive reports on target screening are elucidated using virtual prediction via docking analysis or network pharmacology based on existing data. The results of these reports indicate that an intricate regulatory mechanism is involved in the pathogenesis of COVID-19. Therefore, more pharmacological research on the natural herbs used in TCM should be conducted in order to determine the association between TCM and COVID-19 and account for the observed therapeutic effects of TCM against COVID-19.
