Nicotine in COVID-19: “Friend or Foe”?

Abstract

Corona virus disease 2019 that was initially observed in the Wuhan province of China is now a pandemic situation and whole world is looking toward the solution to combat the disease. Since the virus is new and its associated pathogenesis is still not well understood, thereby numerous researches are going on to find out the promising therapeutic intervention. In current scenario, quickest and effective approach is desirable to find out the potential candidate against COVID-19. Computational modeling is considered to be the only solution which can pace up the identification of desired candidate. A recent French study has reported that smokers are less likely to be affected by COVID-19 than non-smokers signifying that nicotine may be playing a role for the same. In this regard, it becomes mandatory to explore the scientific background behind it at least by initial computational modeling studies. Through comprehensive understanding of the molecular targets involved in COVID-19, we have selected few important targets and performed docking studies of these targets with nicotine. Also, other computational in-silico approaches were used for target analysis and ADMET prediction. Nicotine was found to have interaction with SARS-CoV-2 and ACE-2 receptors through docking studies. The other computational approaches used predict nicotine to have good solubility, target accuracy and pharmacodynamics. Nicotine follows druglikeness factor rules, suggesting it as a potential candidate to track further cell based and biochemical assays to investigate potential of nicotine for use against COVID-19. It may be concluded that nicotine may be a potential agent for various target proteins of SARS-CoV-2.