Potential inhibitory effect of vitamins against COVID-19

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a current pandemic that has affected more than 195 countries worldwide. In this severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic, when treatment strategies are not yet clear and vaccines are not available, vitamins are an excellent choice to protect against this viral infection. The rationale behind this study was to examine the inhibitory effect of vitamins B, C, and D against the main protease of SARSCoV-2 and angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), which have critical roles in the immune system. Molecular docking, performed by using MOE-Dock of the Chemical Computing Group, was used to understand the mechanism. The vitamins all docked within the active sites of the M^pro (PDB ID:6LU7) and ACE2 receptor proteins (PDB ID:6VW1). Vitamins B and C delivered maximum energy scores against both targets, while vitamin D displayed a binding energy score of −7.9532 kcal/mol for M^pro and −7.9297 for ACE2. The efficiency of all three vitamins is higher than the binding energy score of chloroquine (−6.889 kcal/mol), which is now under clinical trials. The use of vitamins is beneficial, being immune system restorative, and they also act as anti-COVID agents. Although the potential beneficial effects of vitamin B and C are revealed through docking studies, further clinical trials are required for the validation of these results.