Abstract:
COVID-19 is rapidly spreading and there are currently no specific clinical treatments available. The absence of an immediate
available vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 made it hard for health professionals to tackle the problem. Thus, the need of ready to
use prescription drugs or herbal remedies is urgent. SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro) protein structure is made available to
facilitate finding solutions to the present problem. In this brief research, we compare the efficacy of some natural compounds
against COVID-19 Mpro to that of Hydroxy-Chloroquine in silico. Molecular docking investigations were carried out using
AutoDock. Virtual screening was performed using AutoDock Vina and the best ligand / protein mode was identified based
on the binding energy. Amino Acids residues of ligands interactions were identified using free version of Discovery Studio
Visualizer and PyMOL. According to present research results, Gallic acid, Quercetin, Hispidulin, Cirsimaritin, Sulfasalazine,
Artemisin and Curcumin exhibited better potential inhibition than Hydroxy-Chloroquine against COVID-19 main protease
active site. Our provided docking data of these compounds may help pave a way for further advanced research to the synthesis
of novel drug candidate for COVID-19.
