#56 Drug repurposing for the prophylaxis of Covid-19: An in-silico approach for antihistaminic drug

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2, single-strand RNA viruses known as betacoronavirus in Coronaviridae causing the Covid-19 epidemic with high infectivity and fatality rates. The severity of the epidemic and un-attainability of highly efficacious and specific treatment for SARS-CoV-2, dire need of therapies, researchers are rushing to identify strategies to combat Covid-19 from existing labeled drugs. These already labeled and proven safety drugs can be rapidly repurposed to clinic applications for treating Covid-19 patients. In the current study, efforts were made to repurpose antihistaminic drugs, Cetirizine to combat the Covid-19 infection. The PASS study of cetirizine showed the antiviral activity of the drug. Hence the molecular docking was studied by using AutoDock Vina to find the binding affinity of cetirizine as a ligand molecule towards RDRP as an active site. The RDRP, PDB ID: 6M71, and 6TY8 (viral proteins) were selected as targets. From the docking study, the binding affinity of the drug and target 6M71 & 6TY8 was found to be -7.8 & -6.9 (kcal/mol) respectively. Clinical studies are needed to measure the effectiveness of Cetirizine for disease prevention, for early intervention, or as adjuvant therapy for severe Covid-19.