Open AccessA Computational-Based Drug Repurposing Method Targeting SARS-CoV-2 and its Neurological Manifestations Genes and Signaling Pathways
Author(s) -
Ali Sepehrinezhad,
Fariborz Rezaeitalab,
Ali Shahbazi,
Sajad Sahab Negah
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
bioinformatics and biology insights
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.556
H-Index - 23
ISSN - 1177-9322
DOI - 10.1177/11779322211026728
Subject(s) - drug repositioning , drugbank , medicine , repurposing , context (archaeology) , clinical trial , drug , drug development , coronavirus , bioinformatics , covid-19 , disease , pharmacology , biology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , ecology , paleontology
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) as a global concern involves infections in multiple organs. Much of the research up to now has been descriptive on neurological manifestations followed by SARS-CoV-2 infection. Despite considerable efforts on effective SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, novel therapeutic options for COVID-19 comorbidities are warranted. One of the fast ways to introduce possible effective drugs for clinical trials is bioinformatics methods. We have conducted a comprehensive enrichment analysis of genes involved in SARS-CoV-2 and neurological disorders associated with COVID-19. For this purpose, gene sets were extracted from the GeneWeaver database. To find out some significant enriched findings for common genes between SARS-CoV-2 and its neurological disorders, several practical databases were used. Finally, to repurpose an efficient drug, DrugBank databases were used. Overall, we detected 139 common genes concerning SARS-CoV-2 and their neurological disorders. Interestingly, our study predicted around 6 existing drugs (ie, carvedilol, andrographolide, 2-methoxyestradiol, etanercept, polaprezinc, and arsenic trioxide) that can be used for repurposing. We found that polaprezinc (zinc l-carnosine) drug is not investigated in the context of COVID-19 till now and it could be used for the treatment of COVID-19 and its neurological manifestations. To summarize, enrichment and network data get us a coherent picture to predict drug repurposing to speed up clinical trials.