Traditional Chinese Medicine in the Treatment of Patients Infected with 2019 New Coronavirus (SARS CoV 2) A Review and Perspective
Currently, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS CoV 2, formerly known as 2019 nCoV, the causative pathogen of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID 19) has rapidly spread across China and around the world, causing an outbreak of acute infectious pneumonia. No specific anti virus drugs or vaccines are available for the treatment of this sudden and lethal disease. The supportive care and non specific treatment to ameliorate the symptoms of the patient are the only options currently. At the top of these conventional therapies, greater than 85% of SARS CoV 2 infected patients in China are receiving Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) treatment. In this article, relevant published literatures are thoroughly reviewed and current applications of TCM in the treatment of COVID 19 patients are analyzed. Due to the homology in epidemiology, genomics, and pathogenesis of the SARS CoV 2 and SARS CoV, and the widely use of TCM in the treatment of SARS CoV, the clinical evidence showing the beneficial effect of TCM in the treatment of patients with SARS coronaviral infections are discussed. Current experiment studies that provide an insight into the mechanism underlying the therapeutic effect of TCM, and those studies identified novel naturally occurring compounds with anti coronaviral activity are also introduced.
International journal of biological sciences