Enzyme-Based Antiviral Potential of Cinnamomum verum J. Presl. Essential Oil and Its Major Component (E)-Cinnamaldehyde

Ayşe Esra Karadağ; Sevde Nur Biltekin; Usman Ghani; Betül Demirci; Fatih Demirci

doi:10.1021/acsomega.3c09595

Enzyme-Based Antiviral Potential of Cinnamomum verum J. Presl. Essential Oil and Its Major Component (E)-Cinnamaldehyde

ACS Omega. 2024 Mar 13;9(12):14118-14122. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.3c09595. eCollection 2024 Mar 26.

Authors

Ayşe Esra Karadağ¹, Sevde Nur Biltekin², Usman Ghani³, Betül Demirci⁴, Fatih Demirci^{4

5}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy, Istanbul Medipol University, 34810 Beykoz, Istanbul, Turkey.
² Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology, School of Pharmacy, Istanbul Medipol University, 34810 Beykoz, Istanbul, Turkey.
³ Department of Pathology, Clinical Biochemistry Unit, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh 12372, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Anadolu University, 26470 Eskişehir, Türkiye.
⁵ Faculty of Pharmacy, Eastern Mediterranean University, Mersin 10, 99450 Famagusta, North Cyprus, Türkiye.

Abstract

In the present study, Cinnamomum verum J. Presl. bark essential oil and its main component cinnamaldehyde was evaluated in vitro for neuraminidase (NA), transmembrane serine protease (TMPRSS2), and angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) inhibitory activities. The chemical composition of C. verum essential oil was confirmed by both gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS), and gas chromatography-flame ionization detection (GC-FID), where 75.9% (E)-cinnamaldehyde was the major component. The ACE2, NA, and TMPRSS2 enzyme inhibitions of C. verum bark essential oil at 20 μg/mL concentration, and (E)-cinnamaldehyde (5 μg/mL) were calculated and compared in the range of 54.2-89.9%. Molecular docking results supported that (E)-cinnam-aldehyde was specific to ACE2 with 89.9% inhibition. Our findings suggest further in vivo studies to confirm the effective and safe use of the essential oil as well as the (E)-cinnamaldehyde.