Abstract

Dr. Subha Bose Banerjee and Kuntal Gupta*

ABSTRACT

Novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is the major health crisis in the world. World Health Organisation has declared COVID-19 as a global pandemic. There are no effective drugs to treat COVID-19 infection. Till date include remdesivir, umifenovir, favipiravir, lopinavir/ritonavir, ribavirin, hydroxychloroquine, etc are used to treat this disease. There is an urgent need for public health measures to implement preventive approaches to control severe COVID-19 disease. In this situation people are searching for safe herbal extracts and pharmacologically active molecules having numerous therapeutic properties. J. adhatoda is a well-known plant drug in Ayurvedic and Unani medicines. It has been used for the treatment of cough,bronchitis, asthma and symptoms of common cold.A wide range of phytochemical constituents have been isolated from J. adhatoda which possesses activities like antitussive, abortifacient, antimicrobial, cardiovascular protection, anticholinesterase, anti-inflammatory and other important activities. The alkaloids from leaf extracts of Justicia adhatoda have also been reported to possess anti-viral activity. The main protease (Mpro), key component for the cleavage of the viral polyprotein, is considered to be one of the important drug targets for treating COVID-19. Various phytochemicals, including polyphenols and alkaloids, have been proposed as potent inhibitors of Mpro. It has been observed that anisotine and vasicoline of Justicia adhatoda and Pemirolast are very good inhibitors. Hence, extract of J.adhatoda could form one of the best options for developing novel natural medicine against COVID-19.