The preventive and therapeutic potential of natural polyphenols on influenza

Abstract

Influenza virus belongs to orthomyxoviridae family. This virus is a major public health problems, with high rates of morbidity and mortality. Despite a wide range of pharmacotherapeutic choices inhibiting specific sequences of pathological process of influenza, developing more effective therapeutic options is an immediate challenge. In this paper, a comprehensively review of natural polyphenolic products used worldwide for the management of influenza infection is presented. Cellular and molecular mechanisms of the natural polyphenols on influenza infection including suppressing virus replication cycle, viral hemagglutination, viral adhesion and penetration into the host cells, also intracellular transductional signaling pathways have been discussed in detail. Based on cellular, animal, and human evidence obtained from several studies, the current paper demonstrates that natural polyphenolic compounds possess potential effects on both prevention and treatment of influenza, which can be used as adjuvant therapy with conventional chemical drugs for the management of influenza and its complications.

KEYWORDS:

• Influenza
• polyphenols
• alternative medicine
• natural medicine
• respiratory infection
• viral disease
• antiviral effect

Key issues

• Influenza and its complications lead this infection to be considered as the sixth leading cause of death in some developed countries.

• A large body of evidence suggests that conventional antiviral drugs are not able to perfectly cure the symptoms of influenza and its relevant complications due to the adverse effects as well as development of resistant strains.

• There are several conventional drugs available for the management of influenza infection; however, treatment failure, particularly in epidemic condition in which specific alteration occurs in the antigenic arrangement of influenza, reveals the necessity of searching for new medicaments with a more acceptable profile of safety and efficacy.

• Polyphenols, as one of the most abundant plant-derived natural agents in human diet, have demonstrated therapeutic benefits in several pathological conditions including infectious disease.

• Current review exhibited that numerous natural polyphenols possess therapeutic potential on influenza infection, which is mediated by different cellular and molecular mechanisms including suppression of virus replication cycle, viral hemagglutination, viral adhesion as well as penetration to host cells, along with modulation of intracellular transductional signaling pathways.

• Accumulating evidences confirmed the therapeutic effect of polyphenols in different models of influenza virus infection, indicating polyphenol-rich plants can be considered as a novel natural source for developing future anti-influenza drugs.

• Further cellular and preclinical studies on well-established polyphenols with low toxicity and high potency are suggested in order to discover the exact mechanisms of anti-influenza action.

• Anti-influenza polyphenolic structures could be used as a skeleton for designing a novel generation of antiviral drugs.

• Randomized clinical trials are needed for the confirmation of anti-influenza effect of natural polyphenols in human subjects.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending or royalties. No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.