Coronaviruses are dangerous human and animal pathogens. The newly identified coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 is the causative agent of COVID-19 outbreak, which is a real threat to human health and life. The world has been struggling with this epidemic for about a year, yet there are still no targeted drugs and effective treatments are very limited. Due to the long process of developing new drugs, reposition of existing ones is one of the best ways to deal with an epidemic of emergency infectious diseases. Among the existing drugs, there are candidates potentially able to inhibit the SARS-CoV-2 replication, and thus inhibit the infection of the virus. Some therapeutics target several proteins, and many diseases share molecular paths. In such cases, the use of existing pharmaceuticals for more than one purpose can reduce the time needed to design new drugs. The aim of this review was to analyze the key targets of viral infection and potential drugs acting on them, as well as to discuss various strategies and therapeutic approaches, including the possible use of natural products. We highlighted the approach based on increasing the involvement of human deaminases, particularly APOBEC deaminases in editing of SARS-CoV-2 RNA. This can reduce the cytosine content in the viral genome, leading to the loss of its integrity. We also indicated the nucleic acid technologies as potential approaches for COVID-19 treatment. Among numerous promising natural products, we pointed out curcumin and cannabidiol as good candidates for being anti-SARS-CoV-2 agents.

冠状病毒是危险的人类和动物病原体。新发现的冠状病毒 SARS-CoV-2 是 COVID-19 爆发的病原体，对人类健康和生命构成真正的威胁。全球与这一流行病斗争了大约一年，但仍然没有针对性的药物，有效的治疗方法也非常有限。由于新药研发过程漫长，对现有药物进行重新定位是应对突发传染病疫情的最佳途径之一。在现有的药物中，有些候选药物可能能够抑制 SARS-CoV-2 的复制，从而抑制病毒的感染。一些疗法针对多种蛋白质，并且许多疾病共享分子路径。在这种情况下，将现有药物用于多种目的可以减少设计新药所需的时间。本综述的目的是分析病毒感染的关键靶点和作用于它们的潜在药物，并讨论各种策略和治疗方法，包括可能使用天然产物。我们强调了基于增加人类脱氨酶（特别是 APOBEC 脱氨酶）参与 SARS-CoV-2 RNA 编辑的方法。这会减少病毒基因组中的胞嘧啶含量，导致其完整性丧失。我们还指出核酸技术是治疗 COVID-19 的潜在方法。在众多有前景的天然产品中，我们指出姜黄素和大麻二酚是抗 SARS-CoV-2 药物的良好候选者。