Coumarins as anti-HIV agent and correlation with COVID-19: an overview

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is an immunosuppressive disease caused by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and leads to infection and malignance, which are life threatening. HIV/AIDS cause numerous deaths in Africa, and is the leading cause of death in India, affecting every fourth living HIV patient. The amount in Southeast Asia is increasing at alarming rate. In this paper, the current issue of COVID-19 and its' possible target of HIV drugs that inhibit entry of the virus into host cell were investigated. Three main groups of coronavirus are surrounded by spike genes, showing that for fusion mechanism, these groups are common mode for attachment. For nearly all disease areas, plant kingdom biodiversity provides a source of new drug candidates. There is a continuous increase in various compounds with anti-HIV activity isolated from natural sources. Various literature and current COVID-19 pandemic situation were considered in the present report. Phase II clinical candidates are calanolide A, a coumarins isolated from Calophyllum lanigerum, and two other natural product-derived molecules, such as DSB and 3-hydroxymethyl-4-methyl DCK, with a potential to emerge as HIV therapy drugs. This naturally obtained product with anti-HIV properties was described in the present paper, focusing on current results as anti-HIV agents derived from natural sources.