Antiviral activities of olive oil apigenin and taxifolin against SARS-CoV-2 RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRP): In silico, pharmacokinetic, ADMET, and in-vitro approaches

Abstract: A novel coronavirus strain called SARS-CoV-2 first appeared in China in
December 2019. Natural products are significant sources of prospective and new
antiviral medications, and new antiviral drug research has advanced significantly in
recent years. The current study allows us to select specific components of olive oil
that are thought to be anti-SARS-CoV-2 and assess their impact on SARS-CoV-2
in vitro. The 26 compounds of olive oil were obtained from the PubChem database
and docked against the RdRP of SARS-CoV-2 (pdb id: 6XQB) by autodock vina 1 1 2
linux x86 software. Cytotoxicity and antiviral activity were measured by the MTT
assay protocol (the crystal violet method). The findings revealed that the range of
the olive oil compound’s molecular docking binding affinity score against the RdRP
SARS-CoV-2 target was 5.9–18.2 kcal/mol. The best compound is apigenin since it
has a low energy value of −18.2 kcal/mol, followed by taxifolin, which has an energy
value of −14.2 kcal/mol. On the other hand, the molecule with the lowest energy is
believed to be the good one. Additionally, Lipinski’s criteria and AD-MET analysis
supported the created apigenin and taxifolin’s status as a secure pharmaceutical
substance. Also, apigenin and taxifolin showed moderate antiviral effectiveness
against SARS-CoV-2 in vitro, with SI values of 9.7 and 8.79, respectively, compared
with olive oil’s crude SI value of 9.57. According to our results, we think that olive oil
is an essential source of cutting-edge SARS-CoV-2 antiviral drugs, especially apigenin and taxifolin compounds.