In-silico evaluation of the efficacy of essential oils from Artemisia absinthium, Artemisia herba-alba, and Artemisia annua against SARS-CoV-2.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in China in December 2019, the pandemic has spread to almost every country in the world, resulting in more than half a billion sick patients and more than seven million victims. The objective of our present study is to explore some plant resources available in Algeria and to verify their potential use against SARS-CoV-2, involved in COVID-19. The study used plant species belonging to the genus Artemisia and growing naturally in Algeria: Artemisia herba-alba and Artemisia absinthium. The essential oils of these two species, analysed by GC-MS, gave a fairly rich chromatographic profile. The comparison of this profile was made with a Malagasy species: Artemisia annua. An in-silico study by molecular docking was conducted on the active molecules of the three species in order to predict their efficacy and possible toxicity. The target proteins of the molecular docking are three proteases: 6LU7, 6WUU, 7JRN and a receptor linked to ACE2: 6M0J. Our study shows that out of 55 molecules tested, 8 present in these 3 plants have a very strong potential to inhibit the proteins studied: Cubebene, Elemene, Mustakone, Azulol, Myrtenyl acetate, β-Selinene, Epi-α-Cadinol, and Germacrene D. We also notice that out of the 8 molecules selected, those extracted from Artemisia absinthium are the ones with the highest scores. This plant may therefore have a very high antiviral potential. Mixtures of the three plants could be complementary in their effectiveness. These findings suggest that the selected compounds warrant further experimental validation in vitro and in vivo.