Alkaloids : great potential in the fight against Covid-19

Abstract

A pneumonia of unknown origin was reported for the first time in Wuhan on 31 December 2019 and was recognised as a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in March 2020, which went on to claim over 6.5 million lives by the time of writing. The causative agent was later identified as a novel coronavirus, given the name of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), a virus which is closely related to other viruses responsible for respiratory infections including the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Related Coronavirus (MERS-CoV). The world saw unprecedented actions being taken by different countries to contain and minimise the transmission of the virus, including lockdowns and mandated mask-wearing. While vaccination campaigns against Covid-19 were rolled out, scientists from around the world sought new possible drugs that could treat, or at least manage, this infection. Scientists turned to nature in an effort to find naturally occurring chemical compounds that could be used as leads for the production of drugs against Covid-19. Among these chemical compounds, there were colchicine, berberine and others which are all members of the same family - the alkaloids.