COVID-19, the
infectious disease caused by the beta-corona virus SARS-CoV2, has posed a global health threat causing more than five million of deaths in the last two years in the world. Although the disease often presents with mild cold-like symptoms, it may have lethal consequences following
thromboembolisms, hyperinflammation and
cytokine storm eventually leading to
pulmonary fibrosis and
multiple organ failure. Despite the progress made in the understanding of the SARS-CoV2 pathology and the clinical management of
COVID-19, the viral illness is still a health concern since outbreaks continue to resurge due to the emergence of mutant variants of the virus that resist the
vaccines. Therefore, there is an urgent need for
therapeutics that can block SARS-CoV2 viral transmission and the progression from
infection to severe symptomatic illness. Natural products could be a valuable source of drugs for the management of
COVID-19 disease, particularly because they can act on multitargets and through different mechanisms including inhibition of biochemical pathways, epigenetic regulation of gene expression, modulation of immune response, regulation of pathophysiological stress response. Here we present an overview of the natural products that possess SARS-CoV2
antiviral activity and the potential to benefit the management of
COVID-19.