Miracle tree, Neem, known for its various medicinal, antiviral and antibacterial properties in treatments of ailments like malaria, stomach and intestinal ulcers and skin diseases among others, has been now found to combat the deadly Covid-19.
Scientists from India and America, in a joint study, investigated that the components found in the bark of the tree (Azadirachta indica) may help treat and reduce the spread of coronavirus which has swept the world.
They claimed that the neem-bark based medication can do away with the need to develop new therapies everytime a new Sars-CoV 2 variant emerges. The study has been published in the journal ‘Virology’.
Led by scientists at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata, the study found that extract from the bark of the Neem tree may target a wide range of viral proteins, suggesting its potential as an antiviral agent against emerging variants of coronaviruses (including SARS-CoV-2).
"The goal of this research is to develop a Neem-based medication that can reduce the risk of serious illness when someone is infected with coronaviruses," said study co-author Maria Nagel, MD, research professor in the department of neurology and ophthalmology at the University Of Colorado School Of Medicine on the CU Anschutz Medical Campus.
"We hope that scientists won't have to continuously develop new therapies every time a new SARS-CoV-2 variant emerges," she said. "Just like how we take penicillin for strep throat, we envision taking the Neem-based drug for Covid, allowing us to resume our normal lives without fear of hospitalization and death."
The scientists investigated the impact of the bark extract against coronaviruses in their laboratories. In India, researchers tested it in animal models and showed that it had antiviral properties against coronavirus. Using computer modeling, the researchers predicted that Neem bark extract will bind to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein at various locations, preventing virus entry to host cells.
At CU Anschutz, Nagel's lab tested the Neem bark extract in SARS-CoV-2 human lung cells. It proved as effective as a preventive drug for infection and also decreased virus replication and spread after infection.
