Less COVID-19 deaths in southern and insular Italy explained by forest bathing, Mediterranean environment, and antiviral plant volatile organic compounds (34 views)
Environ Chem Lett (ISSN: 1610-3653linking), 2021 Nov; N/D: 1-11.
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Paper type: Research Journal Article
Impact factor: 9.027, 5-year impact factor: 8.216
Url: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-021-01309-5
Keywords: Sars-Cov-2 · Covid-19 · Pandemics · Immunomodulatory Compounds · Forest Bathing · Mediterranean Vegetation · Volatile Organic Compounds · Plant Therapeutics · Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 · Spike · Receptor Binding Domain
Affiliations:
*** IBB - CNR ***
Roviello V1, Roviello GN*2
* Giovanni N. Roviellogiroviel@unina.it; giovanni.roviello@cnr.it
1 Department of Chemical, Materials and IndustrialProduction Engineering (DICMaPI), University of NaplesFederico II, Piazzale V. Tecchio 80, 80125 Naples, Italy2 Istituto Di Biostrutture E Bioimmagini, IBB–CNR, ViaMezzocannone 16, 80134 Naples, Italy
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Environ Chem Lett (ISSN: 1610-3653linking), 2021 Nov; N/D: 1-11.
Export to BibTeX Export to EndNote
Paper type: Research Journal Article
Impact factor: 9.027, 5-year impact factor: 8.216
Url: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-021-01309-5
Keywords: Sars-Cov-2 · Covid-19 · Pandemics · Immunomodulatory Compounds · Forest Bathing · Mediterranean Vegetation · Volatile Organic Compounds · Plant Therapeutics · Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 · Spike · Receptor Binding Domain
Affiliations:
*** IBB - CNR ***
Roviello V1, Roviello GN*2
* Giovanni N. Roviellogiroviel@unina.it; giovanni.roviello@cnr.it
1 Department of Chemical, Materials and IndustrialProduction Engineering (DICMaPI), University of NaplesFederico II, Piazzale V. Tecchio 80, 80125 Naples, Italy2 Istituto Di Biostrutture E Bioimmagini, IBB–CNR, ViaMezzocannone 16, 80134 Naples, Italy
References:
Aragaw TA (2020) Surgical face masks as a potential source for microplastic pollution in the COVID-19 scenario. Mar Pollut Bull
159:111517. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111517
Bashir MF, Benjiang M, Shahzad L (2020a) A brief review of socioeconomic and environmental impact of Covid-19. Air Qual
Atmos Health 13(12):1403–1409. https://doi.org/10.1007/
Bashir MF, Ma BJ, Bilal KB, Bashir MA, Farooq TH, Iqbal N,
Bashir M (2020b) Correlation between environmental pollution indicators and COVID-19 pandemic: a brief study in Californian context. Environ Res 187:109652. https://doi.org/10.
1016/j.envres.2020.109652
Berman HM, Battistuz T, Bhat TN, Bluhm WF, Bourne PE, Burkhardt K, Feng Z, Gilliland GL, Iype L, Jain S, Fagan P, Marvin
J, Padilla D, Ravichandran V, Schneider B, Thanki N, Weissig
H, Westbrook JD, Zardecki C (2002) The protein data bank.
Acta Crystallogr D Biol Crystallogr 58(6):899–907. https://doi.
org/10.1107/s0907444902003451
Borbone N, Piccialli G, Roviello GN, Oliviero G (2021) Nucleoside
analogs and nucleoside precursors as drugs in the fght against
SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses. Molecules 26(4):986.
https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26040986
Cai Q-C, Lu J, Xu Q-F, Guo Q, Xu D-Z, Sun Q-W, Yang H, Zhao
G-M, Jiang Q-W (2007) Infuence of meteorological factors and
air pollution on the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome. Public Health 121(4):258–265. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
Carleton T, Cornetet J, Huybers P, Meng KC, Proctor J (2021) Global
evidence for ultraviolet radiation decreasing COVID-19 growth
rates. Proceed Nat Acad Sci. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.20123
Caterino M, Gelzo M, Sol S, Fedele R, Annunziata A, Calabrese C,
Fiorentino G, D’Abbraccio M, Dell’Isola C, Fusco FM (2021)
Dysregulation of lipid metabolism and pathological infammation in patients with COVID-19. Sci Rep 11(1):1–10. https://
doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-82426-7
Cena H, Chieppa M (2020) Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19–SARSCoV-2) and Nutrition: Is Infection in Italy Suggesting a Connection? Front Immunol. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmmu.2020.
Chen N, Sun G, Yuan X, Hou J, Wu Q, Soromou LW, Feng H (2014)
Inhibition of lung infammatory responses by bornyl acetate is
correlated with regulation of myeloperoxidase activity. J Surg Res
186(1):436–445. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jss.2013.09.003
Chen B, Jia P, Han J (2021) Role of indoor aerosols for COVID-19
viral transmission: a review. Environ Chem Lett. https://doi.org/
10.1007/s10311-020-01174-8
Chiang L-C, Ng LT, Chiang W, Chang M-Y, Lin C-C (2003) Immunomodulatory activities of favonoids, monoterpenoids, triterpenoids, iridoid glycosides and phenolic compounds of Plantago species. Planta Med 69(07):600–604. https://doi.org/10.
Conticini E, Frediani B, Caro D (2020) Can atmospheric pollution be
considered a co-factor in extremely high level of SARS-CoV-2
lethality in Northern Italy? Environ Pollut 261:114465. https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2020.114465
Costanzo M, De Giglio MA, Roviello GN (2020) SARS-CoV-2: recent
reports on antiviral therapies based on lopinavir/ritonavir, darunavir/umifenovir, hydroxychloroquine, remdesivir, favipiravir and
other drugs for the treatment of the new coronavirus. Curr Med
Chem 27(27):4536–4541. https://doi.org/10.2174/0929867327
Vaccines: Past Investigations on SARS-CoV-1 and MERS-CoV,
the Approved Vaccines from BioNTech/Pfzer, Moderna, Oxford/
AstraZeneca and others under Development Against SARS-CoV-2
Infection. Curr Med Chem. https://doi.org/10.2174/0929867328
Environmental Chemistry Letters
Dai H, Han J, Lichtfouse E (2021) Smarter cures to combat COVID-19
and future pathogens: a review. Environ Chem Lett. https://doi.
org/10.1007/s10311-021-01224-9
D’Auria M, Racioppi R (2015) The Efect of Drying of the Composition of Volatile Organic Compounds inRosmarinus
ofcinalis,Laurus nobilis,Salvia ofcinalisandThymus serpyllum. A HS-SPME-GC-MS Study. J Essen Oil Bear Plants.
Dutheil F, Navel V, Clinchamps M (2020) The Indirect Beneft on
Respiratory Health From the World’s Efort to Reduce Transmission of SARS - CoV-2. Chest. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
Erickson MA, Rhea EM, Knopp RC, Banks WA (2021) Interactions
of SARS-CoV-2 with the Blood-Brain Barrier. Int J Mol Sci
22(5):2681. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22052681
Fares S, Sanesi G, Vacchiano G, Salbitano F, Marchetti M (2020)
Urban forests at the time of COVID-19 protect us from fne dust.
Forest@—Rivista di Selvicoltura ed Ecologia Forestale. https://
doi.org/10.3832/efor3494-017
Fellet G, Pošćić F, Licen S, Marchiol L, Musetti R, Tolloi A, Barbieri P, Zerbi G (2016) PAHs accumulation on leaves of six
evergreen urban shrubs: a feld experiment. Atmos Pollut Res
7(5):915–924. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apr.2016.05.007
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Less COVID-19 deaths in southern and insular Italy explained by forest bathing, Mediterranean environment, and antiviral plant volatile organic compounds
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is causing major sanitary and socioeconomic issues, yet some locations are less impacted than others. While densely populated areas are likely to favor viral transmission, we hypothesize that other environmental factors could explain lower cases in some areas. We studied COVID-19 impact and population statistics in highly forested Mediterranean Italian regions versus some northern regions where the amount of trees per capita is much lower. We also evaluated the affinity of Mediterranean plant-emitted volatile organic compounds (VOCs) isoprene, α-pinene, linalool and limonene for COVID-19 protein targets by molecular docking modeling. Results show that while mean death number increased about 4 times from 2020 to 2021, the percentage of deaths per population (0.06–0.10%) was lower in the greener Mediterranean regions such as Sardinia, Calabria and Basilica versus northern regions with low forest coverage, such as Lombardy (0.33%) and Emilia Romagna (0.29%). Data also show that the pandemic severity cannot be explained solely by population density. Modeling reveals that plant organic compounds could bind and interfere with the complex formed by the receptor binding domain of the coronavirus spike protein with the human cell receptor. Overall, our findings are likely explained by sea proximity and mild climate, Mediterranean diet and the abundance of non-deciduous Mediterranean plants which emit immunomodulatory and antiviral compounds. Potential implications include ‘forest bathing’ as a therapeutic practice, designing nasal sprays containing plant volatile organic compounds, and preserving and increasing forest coverage.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is causing major sanitary and socioeconomic issues, yet some locations are less impacted than others. While densely populated areas are likely to favor viral transmission, we hypothesize that other environmental factors could explain lower cases in some areas. We studied COVID-19 impact and population statistics in highly forested Mediterranean Italian regions versus some northern regions where the amount of trees per capita is much lower. We also evaluated the affinity of Mediterranean plant-emitted volatile organic compounds (VOCs) isoprene, α-pinene, linalool and limonene for COVID-19 protein targets by molecular docking modeling. Results show that while mean death number increased about 4 times from 2020 to 2021, the percentage of deaths per population (0.06–0.10%) was lower in the greener Mediterranean regions such as Sardinia, Calabria and Basilica versus northern regions with low forest coverage, such as Lombardy (0.33%) and Emilia Romagna (0.29%). Data also show that the pandemic severity cannot be explained solely by population density. Modeling reveals that plant organic compounds could bind and interfere with the complex formed by the receptor binding domain of the coronavirus spike protein with the human cell receptor. Overall, our findings are likely explained by sea proximity and mild climate, Mediterranean diet and the abundance of non-deciduous Mediterranean plants which emit immunomodulatory and antiviral compounds. Potential implications include ‘forest bathing’ as a therapeutic practice, designing nasal sprays containing plant volatile organic compounds, and preserving and increasing forest coverage.
Less COVID-19 deaths in southern and insular Italy explained by forest bathing, Mediterranean environment, and antiviral plant volatile organic compounds
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