Exploring In Silico Repurposing of Asthma Medications as Potential Inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2

The COVID-19 pandemic highlights the urgent need to develop potential drugs in the absence of specific treatments. Antiasthmatics, recognised for their safety and efficacy, have been explored for their potential as antiviral therapies. Molecular docking, a rapid and efficient method, allows the screening of various molecules for structure-based drug design. In this study, molecular docking experiments were carried out, revealing the potential of antiasthmatics in the treatment of COVID-19. Most compounds showed higher binding affinity than the standard ligand, and promising candidates were identified. Further investigations, including molecular mechanics-based calculations and density functional theory-based analysis, confirmed the stability and molecular properties of these compounds in association with the viral protease. In addition, a recent mutation, JN1, has been observed, raising questions about its impact on the efficacy of existing asthma treatments and suggesting the need for further research to adapt therapies to mutant viral strains.