The growing interest in natural bioactive molecules, as an approach to many pathological contexts, is widely justified by the necessity to overcome the disadvantageous benefit-risk ratio related to traditional
therapies. Among them,
mangiferin (MGF) shows promising beneficial properties such as
antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory effects. In this study, we aimed to investigate the
antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of MGF on
lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced lung NCI-H292 cells, focusing on its role against
COVID-19 adsorption. In order to obtain this information, cells treated with LPS, with or without MGF, were analyzed performing wound healing, gene expression of inflammatory
cytokines, GSH quantification, and
JC-1 staining. Moreover, the inhibition of viral adsorption was evaluated microbiologically and the results were further confirmed by molecular docking analysis. In this regard, MGF downregulates the expression of several inflammatory factors, enhances GSH levels, promotes the wound healing rate, and restores the
mitochondrial dysfunction caused by LPS. In addition, MGF significantly inhibits SARS-CoV-2 adsorption as shown by the gene expression of ACE2 and TMPRSS-2, and furtherly confirmed by microbiological and molecular modeling evaluation. Although more investigations are still needed, all data obtained constitute a solid background, demonstrating the cytoprotective role of MGF in inflammatory mechanisms including
COVID-19 infection.