REVIEW ARTICLE


Role of Flavonoids against COVID-19



Ambreen Fatima1, Yasir H. Siddique1, *
1 Department of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India


© 2021 Fatima and Siddique

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the Department of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India;
Tel: 0571-2700929-3447; E-mail: yasir_hasansiddique@rediffmail.com


Abstract

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has entered a threatening stage all over the world. Many lives have been lost, and many more are in need of treatment. The mild symptoms may include fever and dry cough, but in severe cases, it could lead to pneumonia and ultimately death in some instances. Though medical scientists all over the globe are working hard to develop a treatment for this disease, yet no definite cure has been found. To date, the treatment strategy is based on adopting strategies to break the transmission of the virus and repurposing of the old drugs to prevent the loss of life. Among the various potent candidates, flavonoids may play a protective role in these times. Studies have already proven various health-promoting properties of flavonoids in earlier viral diseases, like SARS and MERS. Since ancient times, been plants have used to treat a number of human diseases. Different phytoproducts have been previously described to inhibit the replication of numerous viruses. Despite the positive reports for plant-based medications, no successful clinical trials on phytoproducts as anti-COVID agents have been conducted to date. This review highlights the efficacy of flavonoids as a treatment strategy either alone or in combination with other drugs.

Keywords: COVID-19, Flavonoids, Drugs, Plant products, Inhibitor, Pneumonia.