Development of Metal Complexes for Treatment of Coronaviruses

Int J Mol Sci. 2022 Jun 8;23(12):6418. doi: 10.3390/ijms23126418.

Abstract

Coronavirus disease (SARS-CoV-2) is a global epidemic. This pandemic, which has been linked to high rates of death, has forced some countries throughout the world to implement complete lockdowns in order to contain the spread of infection. Because of the advent of new coronavirus variants, it is critical to find effective treatments and vaccines to prevent the virus's rapid spread over the world. In this regard, metal complexes have attained immense interest as antibody modifiers and antiviral therapies, and they have a lot of promise towards SARS-CoV-2 and their suggested mechanisms of action are discussed, i.e., a new series of metal complexes' medicinal vital role in treatment of specific proteins or SARS-CoV-2 are described. The structures of the obtained metal complexes were fully elucidated by different analytical and spectroscopic techniques also. Molecular docking and pharmacophore studies presented that most of complexes studied influenced good binding affinity to the main protease SARS-CoV-2, which also was attained as from the RCSB pdb (Protein Data Bank) data PDB ID: 6 W41, to expect the action of metal complexes in contradiction of COVID-19. Experimental research is required to determine the pharmacokinetics of most of the complexes analyzed for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2-related disease. Finally, the toxicity of a metal-containing inorganic complex will thus be discussed by its capability to transfer metals which may bind with targeted site.

Keywords: RCSB pdb (Protein Data Bank) database; SARS-CoV-2; coronavirus variants; metal complexes; pandemic; pharmacophore.

MeSH terms

  • Antiviral Agents / chemistry
  • Antiviral Agents / pharmacology
  • Antiviral Agents / therapeutic use
  • COVID-19 Drug Treatment*
  • Communicable Disease Control
  • Coordination Complexes* / pharmacology
  • Coordination Complexes* / therapeutic use
  • Humans
  • Molecular Docking Simulation
  • Protease Inhibitors / pharmacology
  • SARS-CoV-2

Substances

  • Antiviral Agents
  • Coordination Complexes
  • Protease Inhibitors