Plant-derived alkaloids as anti-viral agents

Abstract

Humans are prone to many viral infections, most of them not causing diseases, and some will do. The new pandemic situation in global development and comfort to travel have highlighted their protection as a crucial problem in people’s health and safety even though significant advancements are being made in the making of vaccines and drugs. The provenance of viral mutants generally threatens immunisation and effective anti-viral treatments. The discovery of novel anti-viral drugs is, therefore of paramount importance. The secondary metabolites from the plants with pharmacological activities are regarded as an exemplary repository for this diagnosis. An extensive study of phytochemicals and their mechanisms of action against the viruses might help in controlling harmful viruses. Many phytochemical entities, including terpenes, flavonoids, polyphenol, and phenolic compounds, have been studied for their anti-viral activity. Particularly in alkaloids, cutting edge study is making way to uncover innovative therapeutic strategies. Most of the alkaloids are being used as anti-viral agents, act against few prominent viral pathogens such as coronavirus (CoV), human immune deficiency virus (HIV), systemic acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and respiratory virus (RSV). In this review, we intend to summarise the medicinal use of plant-derived alkaloids utilised to cure viral diseases in the past four decades.