Table 1.

Pharmaceutical mechanisms of Chinese herbs in treating coronavirus, based on study types conducted during different stages of the disease

Stages	Chinese herbs	Latin name	Clinical trial	Animal study	In vitro study
Early	Jinyinhua	Flos Lonicerae Japonicae	shorten fever period [24]	antiviral activity [30]	neuraminidase inhibitory activity [30-32]
				increase nuclear Sp1 binding activity and IL-10 expression of IL-10 [36]	antiviral activity [33]
				decrease nuclear NF-κB binding activities, TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6 in the lung [36]
				suppress Toll-Like Receptor 4 signaling [34]
				inhibit lymphocyte apoptosis [35]
				anti-inflammatory and antioxidative activities in alveolar macrophages [28]
Early and intermediate	Lianqiao	Forsythia suspensa		anti-allergic activity by lowering IL-4 and IFN-γ mRNA expression [38]	antiviral activity [37]
					antibacterial activity [37]
					anti-inflammatory activity [37]
					antioxidant activity [37]
					neuroprotective activity [37]
					anti-allergic activity [37]
Early	Jinyinhua and lianqiao		prevent influenza [29]	anti-Influenza viral activity [25,26]	anti-Influenza viral activity [25,26]
				antibacterial, antiviral, antitumor, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant effects [27]
				decrease iNOS, COX-2, NO, prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6 levels in the lung [28]
Early and intermediate	Jingjie	Schizonepeta tenuifolia		antiviral activity [40]	antiviral activity [40]
				decrease NF-κB and regulate IFN-γ, IL-4 and IL-2 levels [39]
				anti-Influenza viral activity [96]
Early	Danzhuye	Herba Lophatheri			antiviral, antibacterial, antioxidant, anticancer activity and suppression of metastasis [41]
Early	Mahuang	Ephedra sinica		anti-influenza viral activity [44]
				anti-influenza viral effects by regulating the TLR7/NF-κB signal pathway [45]
				inhibit influenza virus replication and mRNA expression via the TLR4 and TLR7 signaling pathways [46]
				anti-inflammatory effects by decreasing the expression of IL-6, MCP-1 and TNF-α, and increasing expression of IL-10 [47]
Early and intermediate	Gancao	Glycyrrhiza uralensis		antiviral activity [50]	antiviral activity [95]
				SARS-associated viral inhibition [51-53]	anti-Influenza viral activity [94]
				antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and anticancer effect [49]
				suppression of platelet responses in acute respiratory distress syndrome [54]
				suppression of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR-4) in acute lung injury [55]
				anti-Influenza virus activity [94]
Early	Dahuang	Rheum rhabarbarum		anti-fibrosis effect [58,59]	blocks S protein and ACE2 interaction [61]
				anticancer effect [60]
Early	Jianghuang	Curcumae Longae		antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, anticancer, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory effects [63,64]	antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, anticancer, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory effects [63,64]
Early	Guanghuoxiang	Herba Pogostemonis			antiviral activity [65]
Early	Zuling	Polyporus Sclerotium	antiviral activity (hepatitis B) [68]		Immunomodulatory activity [66]
Early	Zexie	Alismatis Rhizoma		antiviral activity (hepatitis B) [69]
Early	Cangzhu	Rhizoma Atractylodis		anti-influenza A virus activity via the TLR7 signaling pathway, decreasing IL-6, TNF-α and IL-1β levels, and increasing IFN-β levels [72]
				anti-inflammatory effect [70]
				gastroprotective effects [71]
Intermediate	Daqingye	Folium Isatidis		antiviral activity [76,78]	antiviral activity [76,78]
				anti-Influenza viral activity [76,77]	anti-Influenza viral activity [75,76]
Intermediate	Banlangen	Radix Isatidis		anti-Influenza viral activity [84]	antiviral activity [85-88]
					anti-Influenza viral activity [79-84]
Intermediate	Zicao	Radix Arnebiae			antiviral activity [89,90]
Intermediate	Mianmaguanzhong	Dryopteridis Crassirhizomatis Rhizoma		anti-Influenza viral activity [91]
Intermediate	Yinchen	Artemisiae Scopariae			antiviral activity [92,93]
Intermediate	Niubangzi	Arctii Tosum		anti-Influenza viral activity [94]	anti-Influenza viral activity [94]
Intermediate	Huangqin	Radix Scutellariae		antiviral activity [112-116]	antiviral activity [109,112-115,117-127]
				anti-Influenza viral activity [98-104]	anti-Influenza virus activity [98,100-102,105-111]
Intermediate	Guanghuoxiang	Herba Pogostemonis		anti-Influenza viral activity [128]	anti-Influenza viral activity [128,129]
Intermediate	Qinghao	Artemisiae Annuae			antiviral activity [133-135]
					anti-coronavirus activity [132]
Intermediate	Fuling	Poria		antiviral activity [136]
				and anti-Influenza viral activity [136]
Intermediate	Zhimu	Anemarrhenae rhizoma			antiviral activity [65,141]
Intermediate	Huanglian	Rhizoma Coptidis		antiviral activity [145]	antiviral activity [143-145]
					anti-Influenza viral activity [75]
					anti-coronavirus activity [142]
Intermediate	Zhizi	Fructus Gardeniae		antiviral activity [151]	antiviral activity [150,151]
				anti-Influenza viral activity [147-149]	anti-Influenza viral activity [75,146-148]
Intermediate and severe	Dihuang	Radix Rehmanniae		antiviral activity [152]	antiviral activity [153] and anti-inflammatory activity [163]
Intermediate	Mudanpi	Cortex Moutan			antiviral activity [153,154]
Severe	Danshen	Salviae Miltiorrhizae		attenuates pulmonary fibrosis [163,164]
Severe	Niuhuang	Calculus Bovis		antipyretic effect [175]
				relieves acute lung injury [175]
Severe	Shigao	Gypsum Fibrosum		antipyretic effect [176]
Severe	Shuiniujiao	Cornu Bubali		antipyretic activity [165,166]
Severe	Jiegeng	Radix platycodonis		anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory activities [167]
				attenuates airway inflammation [168]
Severe	Renshen	Rhizoma Ginseng		improves influenza vaccination outcomes [170]
Convalescent	Maidong	Radix Ophiopogonis		ameliorates Doxorubicin-Induced Chronic Heart Failure by Inhibiting Oxidative Stress and Inflammatory Response [197]	anti-inflammatory activity [198]
					antioxidative and cardiovascular protection [199,200]
					regulates intestinal flora [199,200]
Convalescent	Tianhuafen	Radix Trichosanthis		neuroprotective effects in subarachnoid hemorrhage [185]	antioxidative effect [184]
Convalescent	Sangye	Folium Mori			promotes macrophagic differentiation [186]
					activities of immunomodulation, anti-inflammation, antioxidation [201]
Convalescent	Baizhu	Atractylodis Macrocephalae			anti-tumor activity, anti-inflammatory activity, anti-aging activity, antioxidative activity, anti-osteoporotic activity, neuroprotective activity, and immunomodulatory activity [202]