Polyphenols in regard to COVID-19 research (April, 10, 2020)

The outbreaks of the COVID-19 viral infections in many countries and the resulting global pandemic have generated a high level of urgency on research for compounds that prevent this virus being taken up into cells, interfere with viral replication and prevent the innate immune response that results in cytokine and chemical storms. While there are intense international efforts to develop a vaccine for this virus, it unlikely that it will be available for the next winter season of infection. Therefore, having agents to prevent infection by the virus, as well as to treat patients already infected, is crucial for preventing loss of life and easing economic and social disruption.

As its contribution to the discovery of drugs/bioactives, the team at the UAB Hugh Kaul Precision Medicine Institute (PMI) led by Dr. Matthew Might has used mediKanren and other software tools to rapidly search the biomedical literature for evidence of compounds with attributes suitable for treatment of COVID-19 patients.

Besides drugs on the list of FDA-approved therapeutics, a group of compounds that emerged from the bioinformatics research are the polyphenols, plant secondary metabolites that are associated with healthy eating and lowered risk of many chronic diseases. Members of the Purdue-UAB Botanicals Research Center, led by Drs. Connie Weaver and Stephen Barnes, came together with the PMI team and other UAB faculty to create a mini-symposium on Polyphenols and COVID-19. The presentations were recorded and are available here.