Substance effective against COVID-19 found in green tea

Green tea contains a substance that could potentially be useful in the fight against COVID-19, according to UK scientists, RSC Advances reported.

Scientists analyzed the structure of various phytochemicals in order to identify those that can suppress infection with coronavirus by acting on certain components of the virus. They selected 132 substances that were tested for interaction with the main protease (Mpro) of the coronavirus. It turned out that two of them - cinnamtannin-B and gallocatechin gallate - turned out to be the phytocompounds that most effectively block Mpro.

According to the rule of five, a compound must have a number of molecular properties that make it suitable for oral ingestion, such as no more than 5 donor hydrogen bonds or no more than 10 acceptor hydrogen bonds. Since gallocatechin gallate meets the rule of five, the compound itself and its analogs were taken for further analysis.

Gallocatechin analog (2R, 3R) -2- (3,4-dihydroxyphenyl) chroman-3-yl-3,4,5-trihydroxybenzoate successfully inhibited several SARS-CoV-2 targets, including RNA-dependent RNA polymerase.

Further research is needed to find out how clinically effective and safe gallocatechin is for preventing coronavirus infection or treating COVID-19, the scientists said.

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