Login Register Cart 0
Generic placeholder image

Coronaviruses

Editor-in-Chief

ISSN (Print): 2666-7967
ISSN (Online): 2666-7975

Back
Journal Home About Journal Editorial Board Current Issue Volumes/Issues
Subscribe
Perspective Article

Antiviral Potential of Coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) Oil and COVID-19

Author(s): S.V. Ramesh*, R. Pandiselvam, K.B. Hebbar, M.R. Manikantan, P.P. Shameena Beegum, Shelly Praveen and N.U. Sruthi

Volume 2, Issue 4, 2021

Published on: 04 November, 2020

Page: [405 - 410] Pages: 6

DOI: 10.2174/2666796701999201104164010

Abstract

Background: COVID-19 caused by the novel SARS Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is causing serious problems in the global public health sphere. In the absence of a powerful antiviral treatment, the exploration of plant-based products with antiviral potential has gained interest.

Scope and Approach: This commentary presents the prospects of utilizing coconut oil directly or its derivatives such as monolaurin in treating COVID-19 with a special emphasis on their biochemical characteristics features. The potential pitfalls therein and way forward are also highlighted.

Key findings and conclusions: There are enough research-backed evidences to demonstrate the antiviral capabilities of coconut oil and monolaurin. The possibility of developing a medium-chain fatty acidbased nasal spray as a prophylactic or therapeutic is also discussed. Nevertheless, the potential impediments in devising suitable therapeutic models to treat SARS-CoV-2, are presented.

Keywords: Antiviral therapy, immune-modulation, medium-chain fatty acids, lauric acid, SARS-CoV-2, Cocos nucifera L.

[1]
Dayrit F. The properties of lauric acid and their significance in coconut oil. J Am Oil Chem Soc 2014; 92: 1-15.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11746-014-2562-7]
[2]
Dayrit CS. Coconut oil in health and disease: its and monolaurin’s potential as cure for HIV/AIDS. Ind Coconut J (Cochin) 2000; 31: 19-24.
[3]
Assunção ML, Ferreira HS, dos Santos AF, Cabral CR Jr, Florêncio TMMT. Effects of dietary coconut oil on the biochemical and anthropometric profiles of women presenting abdominal obesity. Lipids 2009; 44(7): 593-601.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11745-009-3306-6] [PMID: 19437058]
[4]
St-Onge M-P, Ross R, Parsons WD, Jones PJ. Medium-chain triglycerides increase energy expenditure and decrease adiposity in overweight men. Obes Res 2003; 11(3): 395-402.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/oby.2003.53] [PMID: 12634436]
[5]
Enig MG. Health and nutritional benefits from coconut oil and its advantages over competing oils. Indian Coconut J 2010; 53: 14-20.
[6]
Fife B. Health properties of coconut oil. Agro Food Ind Hi-Tech 2013; 24(3): 7-10.
[7]
Widhiarta KD. Virgin coconut oil for HIV - positive people. Cord 2016; 32(1): 50-7.
[8]
Piironen V, Lampi AM. Occurrence and levels of phytosterols in foods.In: Dutta P,C Ed Phytosterols as functional food components and nutraceuticals Nowy Jork: Marcel Dekker INC,. 2004; pp. 1-32.
[9]
Arlee R, Suanphairoch S, Pakdeechanuan P. Differences in chemical components and antioxidant-related substances in virgin coconut oil from coconut hybrids and their parents. Food Res Int 2013; 20(5): 2103-9.
[10]
Seneviratne KN, Kapuarachchl CD, Ekanayake S. Comparison of the phenolic-dependent antioxidant properties of coconut oil extracted under cold and hot conditions. Food Chem 2009; 114: 1444-9.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2008.11.038]
[11]
McDonald GB, Saunders DR, Weidman M, Fisher L. Portal venous transport of long-chain fatty acids absorbed from rat intestine. Am J Physiol 1980; 239(3): G141-50.
[PMID: 7435568]
[12]
Projan SJ, Brown-Skrobot S, Schlievert PM, Vandenesch F, Novick RP. Glycerol monolaurate inhibits the production of beta-lactamase, toxic shock toxin-1, and other staphylococcal exoproteins by interfering with signal transduction. J Bacteriol 1994; 176(14): 4204-9.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/JB.176.14.4204-4209.1994] [PMID: 8021206]
[13]
Peterson ML, Schlievert PM. Glycerol monolaurate inhibits the effects of Gram-positive select agents on eukaryotic cells. Biochemistry 2006; 45(7): 2387-97.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/bi051992u] [PMID: 16475828]
[14]
Thormar H, Isaacs CE, Brown HR, Barshatzky MR, Pessolano T. Inactivation of enveloped viruses and killing of cells by fatty acids and monoglycerides. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 1987; 31(1): 27-31.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/AAC.31.1.27] [PMID: 3032090]
[15]
Hornung B, Amtmann E, Sauer G. Lauric acid inhibits the maturation of vesicular stomatitis virus. J Gen Virol 1994; 75(Pt 2): 353-61.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1099/0022-1317-75-2-353] [PMID: 8113756]
[16]
Bartolotta S, García CC, Candurra NA, Damonte EB. Effect of fatty acids on arenavirus replication: inhibition of virus production by lauric acid. Arch Virol 2001; 146(4): 777-90.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s007050170146] [PMID: 11402863]
[17]
Duke JA. Dr Duke’s Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases’ (Data Set). US: Ag Data Commons 2016.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.15482/USDA.ADC/1239279]
[18]
Li Q, Estes JD, Schlievert PM, et al. Glycerol monolaurate prevents mucosal SIV transmission. Nature 2009; 458(7241): 1034-8.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature07831] [PMID: 19262509]
[19]
Kristmundsdóttir T, Arnadóttir SG, Bergsson G, Thormar H. Development and evaluation of microbicidal hydrogels containing monoglyceride as the active ingredient. J Pharm Sci 1999; 88(10): 1011-5.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/js9900396] [PMID: 10514348]
[20]
Kohn A, Gitelman J, Inbar M. Unsaturated free fatty acids inactivate animal enveloped viruses. Arch Virol 1980; 66(4): 301-7.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF01320626] [PMID: 7447706]
[21]
Yuniwarti EYW, Asmara W, Artama WT, Tabbu CR. Virgin coconut oil supplementation increased the survival of avianinfluenza virus (H5N1) infected chicken. Asian J Polit Sci 2015; 9(2): 106-11.
[22]
Willimann. Antimicrobial and antiviral composition. US patent 2018, Available from: https://patents.google.com/patent/US10307452B2/en
[23]
Carolyn Harrington CJ, Harrington RA. Coconut oil-based intranasal composition and use. US patent 2012, Available from: https://patents.google.com/patent/US20120219644A1/en
[24]
Wyde PR, Chetty SN, Timmerman P, Gilbert BE, Andries K. Short duration aerosols of JNJ 2408068 (R170591) administered prophylactically or therapeutically protect cotton rats from experimental respiratory syncytial virus infection. Antiviral Res 2003; 60(3): 221-31.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.antiviral.2003.07.002] [PMID: 14638398]
[25]
Khan HU, Aamir K, Sisinthy SP, Nagojappa NBS, Arya A. Food additive “lauric acid” possess non-toxic profile on biochemical, haematological and histopathological studies in female Sprague Dawley (SD) rats. PeerJ 2020; 8e8805
[http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.8805] [PMID: 32266118]
[26]
Fletcher NF, Meredith LW, Tidswell E, et al. A novel antiviral formulation inhibits a range of enveloped viruses. J Gen Virol 2020; 101(10): 1090-102.
[27]
Mutmainah J, Purwono B. Chemical synthesis of monosaccharide lauric acid esters as antibacterial and antifungal agents. Mater Sci Forum 2019; 948: 63-8.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/MSF.948.63]
[28]
Piret J, Désormeaux A, Bergeron MG. Sodium lauryl sulfate, a microbicide effective against enveloped and nonenveloped viruses. Curr Drug Targets 2002; 3(1): 17-30.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1389450023348037] [PMID: 11899262]
[29]
de Sousa ALM, Pinheiro RR, Araújo JF, et al. Sodium dodecyl sulfate as a viral inactivator and future perspectives in the control of small ruminant lentiviruses. Arquivos do Instituto Biológico 2019; 86
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1808-1657000752018]
[30]
Luna P. Characterisation of functional monoglyceride and its potential application. AIP Conference Proceedings 2020; 2215070006
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0000576]
[31]
Zhang MS, Sandouk A, Houtman JC. Glycerol monolaurate (GML) inhibits human T cell signaling, metabolism, and function by disrupting lipid dynamics. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2017; 139(2): AB269-9.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaci.2016.12.866]
[32]
Liu T, Zhang J, Yang Y, et al. The potential role of IL-6 in monitoring severe cases of Coronavirus disease 2019. medRxiv 2020; 200: 29769.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2020.03.01.20029769]
[33]
Kamalaldin NA, Sulaiman SA, Yusop MR, Yahaya B. Does inhalation of virgin coconut oil accelerate reversal of airway remodelling in an allergic model of asthma? Int J Inflamm 2017; 20178741851
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2017/8741851] [PMID: 28660089]
[34]
Ramesh SV, Pandiselvam R, Thushara R, et al. Engineering intervention for production of virgin coconut oil by hot process and multivariate analysis of quality attributes of virgin coconut oil extracted by various methods. J Food Process Eng 2020; 43e13395
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jfpe.13395]
[35]
Marina AM, Che Man YB, Nazimah SA, Amin I. Antioxidant capacity and phenolic acids of virgin coconut oil. Int J Food Sci Nutr 2009; 60(2): 114-23.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09637480802549127]
[36]
Famurewa AC, Ejezie FE. Polyphenols isolated from virgin coconut oil attenuate cadmium-induced dyslipidemia and oxidative stress due to their antioxidant properties and potential benefits on cardiovascular risk ratios in rats. Avicenna J Phytomed 2018; 8(1): 73-84.
[PMID: 29387575]
[37]
Hilmarsson H, Traustason BS, Kristmundsdóttir T, Thormar H. Virucidal activities of medium- and long-chain fatty alcohols and lipids against respiratory syncytial virus and parainfluenza virus type 2: comparison at different pH levels. Arch Virol 2007; 152(12): 2225-36.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00705-007-1063-5] [PMID: 17891329]
[38]
Cortegiani A, Ingoglia G, Ippolito M, Giarratano A, Einav S. A systematic review on the efficacy and safety of chloroquine for the treatment of COVID-19. J Crit Care 2020; 57: 279-83.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrc.2020.03.005] [PMID: 32173110]
[39]
Gaborit BJ, Bergmann J-F, Mussini C, et al. Plea for multitargeted interventions for severe COVID-19. Lancet Infect Dis 2020; 20(10): 1122-3.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(20)30312-1] [PMID: 32325035]
[40]
Varga Z, Flammer AJ, Steiger P, et al. Endothelial cell infection and endotheliitis in COVID-19. Lancet 2020; 395(10234): 1417-8.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30937-5] [PMID: 32325026]
[41]
Adeyemi WJ, Olayaki LA, Abdussalam TA, et al. Investigation of the effects of dietary modification in experimental obesity: low dose of virgin coconut oil has a potent therapeutic value. Biomed Pharmacother 2020; 126110110
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biopha.2020.110110] [PMID: 32244146]
[42]
Erion DM, Shulman GI. Diacylglycerol-mediated insulin resistance. Nat Med 2010; 16(4): 400-2.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nm0410-400] [PMID: 20376053]
[43]
Lu H, Guo T, Fan Y, Deng Z, Luo T, Li H. Effects of diacylglycerol and triacylglycerol from peanut oil and coconut oil on lipid metabolism in mice. J Food Sci 2020; 85(6): 1907-14.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1750-3841.15159] [PMID: 32421231]

Rights & Permissions Print Cite
Article Metrics
17
1
© 2024 Bentham Science Publishers | Privacy Policy