Abstract

PIPER LONGUM LINN.-A FRUIT CONTAINS POTENTIAL INHIBITORS OF COVID-19 MAIN PROTEASE BASED ON MOLECULAR DOCKING

S. Sivaraj*, S. Rangaraj and A. Suguna

Abstract

A new coronavirus (nCoV) identified as the etiological agent responsible for the 2019-2020 viral pneumonia outbreak that commenced in Wuhan. Currently there is no clinically approved antiviral drug or vaccine available and effective treatment options remain very limited. Here, we have studied the virtual interaction between COVID-19 main protease (Mpro-PDB ID: 6LU7) and ten bioactive compounds of Piper Longum by molecular docking using Autodock 4.2. It was identified that Piperundecalidine, a phytoconstituent present in fruit of Piper Longum as potential inhibitor of COVID-19 Mpro which shows higher binding affinity (-9.54 kcal/mol) than the lead tideglusib(-8.48 kcal/mol). However, these data need further in vitro and in vivo evaluation to use against 2019-nCoV. This was the first report on phytoconstituents of Piper Longum as potential inhibitor of COVID-19 Mpro using molecular docking studies.

Keywords: ?COVID-19 ?6LU7 ? Piper Longum ?Molecular docking.