{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,25]],"date-time":"2026-08-25T20:30:59Z","timestamp":1787689859645,"version":"build-2784847793"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,6,11]],"date-time":"2020-06-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1591833600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Molecules"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Flavonoids are widely used as phytomedicines. Here, we report on flavonoid phytomedicines with potential for development into prophylactics or therapeutics against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). These flavonoid-based phytomedicines include: caflanone, Equivir, hesperetin, myricetin, and Linebacker. Our in silico studies show that these flavonoid-based molecules can bind with high affinity to the spike protein, helicase, and protease sites on the ACE2 receptor used by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 to infect cells and cause COVID-19. Meanwhile, in vitro studies show potential of caflanone to inhibit virus entry factors including, ABL-2, cathepsin L, cytokines (IL-1\u03b2, IL-6, IL-8, Mip-1\u03b1, TNF-\u03b1), and PI4Kiii\u03b2 as well as AXL-2, which facilitates mother-to-fetus transmission of coronavirus. The potential for the use of smart drug delivery technologies like nanoparticle drones loaded with these phytomedicines to overcome bioavailability limitations and improve therapeutic efficacy are discussed.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/molecules25112707","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,6,16]],"date-time":"2020-06-16T00:50:49Z","timestamp":1592268649000},"page":"2707","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":133,"title":["Potential of Flavonoid-Inspired Phytomedicines against COVID-19"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"25","author":[{"given":"Wilfred","family":"Ngwa","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Brigham and Women\u2019s Hospital, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rajiv","family":"Kumar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA; R&amp;D Biomedical Materials, Millipore Sigma, Milwaukee, WI 02115, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Daryl","family":"Thompson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Global Research and Discovery Group Sciences, Winter Haven, FL 33884, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"William","family":"Lyerly","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Global Research and Discovery Group Sciences, Winter Haven, FL 33884, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Roscoe","family":"Moore","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Global Research and Discovery Group Sciences, Winter Haven, FL 33884, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Terry-Elinor","family":"Reid","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Pharmacy, Concordia University of Wisconsin, Mequon, WI 53097, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Henry","family":"Lowe","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Vilotos Pharmaceuticals, Inc and Flavocure Biotech Inc, Baltimore, MD 21202 USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ngeh","family":"Toyang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Vilotos Pharmaceuticals, Inc and Flavocure Biotech Inc, Baltimore, MD 21202 USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,6,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"311","DOI":"10.1038\/d41586-020-01056-7","article-title":"How does COVID-19 kill? 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