In silico and Experimental Evaluation of Antiviral Activity of Acutumine and Dauricumine against SARS-CoV-2.

The unusual pneumonia outbreak that originated in the city of Wuhan, China in December 2019 was found to be caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), or COVID-19. In this study, we have evaluated the antiviral activity of Acutumine and Dauricumine compounds isolated from the Menispermum plant against SARS-CoV-2. The cells were infected by virus in 3 different experimental assay designs and treated at various concentrations from 0 to 48 hours post infection. The selected compounds were further tested under light-dependent anti-viral activities to measure the reduction of viral load using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) on the cell culture assay. The in-silico results revealed that the active compounds known as Acutumine and Dauricumine could be better antiviral compounds with essential proteins of this virus, mainly protease (Mpro). Interestingly, the Acutumine and Dauricumine mixture (1:1 ratio100 mg/mL of each) of both compounds showed effective anti-viral activity in Vero E6 cells. Therefore, the results of Acutumine and Dauricumine compounds used in this study showed significant anti-viral and virucidal effects in the following increasing order of potency: Acutumine alone, Dauricumine alone, and mixture of both compounds or effective on SARS-CoV-2 infectious cycle. Thus, based on the outcome of this study, it is concluded that Dauricumine alone or in a mixture could be a better option as an antiviral than Acutumine alone against SARS-CoV-2.