Researcher at IIT Bhubaneswar suggests polyphenols like resveratrol can attenuate the proinflammatory function of ^hC5a , which may be beneficial for COVID-19 management.

Resveratrol, the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) found in several fruits, nuts and marketed nutraceuticals is one of the promiscuous polyphenolic phytoalexin known to promote good health, famously associated with “French Paradox”. The health benefits of resveratrol could be due to its antioxidant activity or its direct interaction with target proteins, resulting modulation of several cells signaling and inflammatory pathways. Indeed, published study indicates that resveratrol can effectively inhibit replication of influenza A virus, including the MERS corona virus. Moreover, resveratrol can also upregulate the ACE2 receptor expression, providing protective effect against the severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Interestingly, the research group of Dr. S. Rana (Chemical Biology Laboratory), School of Basic Sciences, IIT Bhubaneswar have recently shown (Journal of Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics, 2020, doi: 10.1080/07391102.2020.1738958) that resveratrol can strongly bind the proinflammatory protein h C5a of the complement system, which may be beneficial for controlling the inflammatory response triggered by the complement system, whenever challenged by infectious pathogens like SARS-CoV-2.