Gene

Coronavirus

Virtual screening

Biology

Virology

Biochemistry

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)

Drug

Computational biology

Drug discovery

Antiviral drug

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Terpene

Bioinformatics

Infectious disease (medical specialty)

Pharmacology

Medicine

In silico

Disease

Pathology

Plants

The acute respiratory syndrome caused by the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) caused severe panic all over the world. The coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has already brought massive human suffering and major economic disruption and unfortunately, there is no specific treatment for COVID-19 so far. Herbal medicines and purified natural products can provide a rich resource for novel antiviral drugs. Therefore, in this review, we focused on the sterols and triterpenes as potential candidates derived from natural sources with well-reported in vitro efficacy against numerous types of viruses. Moreover, we compiled from these reviewed compounds a library of 162 sterols and triterpenes that was subjected to a computer-aided virtual screening against the active sites of the recently reported SARS-CoV-2 protein targets. Interestingly, the results suggested some compounds as potential drug candidates for the development of anti-SARS-CoV-2 therapeutics.

Sterols and Triterpenes: Antiviral Potential Supported by In-Silico Analysis