Hydroxychloroquine and curcumin conjugates as multifunctional co drugs for the potential treatment of COVID-19: An in-silico based study

Abstract

The present study has been undertaken to search the novel co drugs for fighting against the COVID-19 disease through an in- silico  approach. We have designed eight co drugs by merging two drugs namely hydroxychloroquine, used in the treatment of COVID-19 and curcumin an immuno modulator. The two drugs were linked through a bio-cleavable hydrolyzable linker by three-step process. The designed co drugs were subjected for molecular docking studies to know their therapeutic efficacy against the COVID-19 main protease (Mpro) and Interleukin-1β. The designed co drugs have a promising binding affinity towards Mpro in the narrow range of binding energies between  -28.2498 to  -35.8648 kcal/mol when compared to the standard Remdesivir which has  -21.8600 kcal/mol. Similarly the binding energies of designed co drugs against Interleukin -1β range between  -25.8032 to  -34.6973 kcal/mol when compared to the standard curcumin which has  -17.3274 kcal/mol. Our findings demonstrated that the designed co drugs may be useful for the treatment of viral respiratory infection due to their additive therapeutic actions on the viral protein and modulating the immune response synergistically.