Therapeutic Uses of Traditional Chinese Medicines Against COVID-19

Abstract

Manal Buabeid,1,2,* Munazza Ijaz,3,* Saba Shamim,3 Xianju Huang,4 Ghulam Murtaza5 1College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Ajman University, Ajman, 346, United Arab Emirates; 2Medical and Bio-allied Health Sciences Research Centre, Ajman University, Ajman, United Arab Emirates; 3Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, The University of Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan; 4College of Pharmacy, South-Central University for Nationalities, Wuhan, 430074, People’s Republic of China; 5Department of Pharmacy, COMSATS University Islamabad, Lahore Campus, Lahore, 54000, Pakistan*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Ghulam Murtaza; Saba Shamim Tel [phone]Fax [phone]Email [email protected]; [email protected]: COVID-19 is a pandemic and a serious respiratory disorder that is caused by coronavirus. It has produced an outbreak of acute infectious pneumonia in China and afterward all around the world. There is not a single anti-viral drug, vaccine or any kind of treatment available for this fatal disease. There are only a few options available for symptomatic relief. Thus, in China, 85% of SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals have been treated with traditional Chinese medicines (TCM). Thus, this article focused on the previous kinds of literature regarding COVID-19 and its treatment with TCM along with its applications. SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV showed similarity in genes, pathological processes, and epidemiology, so these can be treated with TCM. The proof regarding treatment of SARS-CoV with TCM explicitly shows the advantages of using TCM therapy for COVID-19. Present literature explains the mode of action and efficacy of TCM and elaborates on the natural compounds introduced to treat COVID-19.Keywords: mode of action, efficacy, TCM, antivirals, COVID-19, respiratory pneumonia

Keywords

• mode of action
• efficacy
• tcm
• antivirals
• covid-19
• respiratory pneumonia