Rutin: A Potential Antiviral for Repurposing as a SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease (Mpro) Inhibitor

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https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1934578X21991723

Article first published online: April 3, 2021; Issue published: April 1, 2021
Accepted: January 08, 2021; Received: December 28, 2020

https://doi.org/10.1177/1934578X21991723

Pawan K. Agrawal¹, Chandan Agrawal¹, Gerald Blunden^2
1Natural Product Inc., Westerville, OH, USA

² School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Science, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK


Abstract

Various computational studies, including in silico ones, have identified several existing compounds that could serve as effective inhibitors of the SARS-CoV-2 main protease (M^pro), and thus preventing replication of the virus. Among these, rutin has been identified as a potential hit, having prominent binding affinity to the virus. Moreover, its presence in several traditional antiviral medicines prescribed in China to infected patients with mild to moderate symptoms of COVID-19 justify its promise as a repurposed bioactive secondary metabolite against SARS-CoV-2.

Keywords rutin, antiviral, main protease inhibitor, COVID-19, flavonoids, bioactivity