Novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread across the globe; and surprisingly, no potentially protective or therapeutic antiviral molecules are available to treat severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. However, zinc (Zn) and copper (Cu) have been shown to exert protective effects due to their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antiviral properties. Therefore, it is hypothesized that supplementation with Zn and Cu alone or as an adjuvant may be beneficial with promising efficacy and a favorable safety profile to mitigate symptoms, as well as halt progression of the severe form of SARS-CoV-2 infection. The objective of this review is to discuss the proposed underlying molecular mechanisms and their implications for combating SARS-CoV-2 infection in response to Zn and Cu administration. Several clinical trials have also included the use of Zn as an adjuvant therapy with dietary regimens/antiviral drugs against COVID-19 infection. Overall, this review summarizes that nutritional intervention with Zn and Cu may offer an alternative treatment strategy by eliciting their virucidal effects through several fundamental molecular cascades, such as, modulation of immune responses, redox signaling, autophagy, and obstruction of viral entry and genome replication during SARS-CoV-2 infection.

2019 年新型冠状病毒病 (COVID-19) 已在全球蔓延；令人惊讶的是，没有潜在的保护性或治疗性抗病毒分子可用于治疗严重急性呼吸系统综合症冠状病毒-2 (SARS-CoV-2) 感染。然而，锌 (Zn) 和铜 (Cu) 因其抗氧化、抗炎和抗病毒特性而发挥保护作用。因此，假设单独补充 Zn 和 Cu 或作为佐剂补充可能有益于缓解症状并阻止严重形式的 SARS-CoV-2 感染的进展，具有良好的疗效和良好的安全性。本综述的目的是讨论拟议的潜在分子机制及其对对抗 SARS-CoV-2 感染以响应 Zn 和 Cu 给药的影响。几项临床试验还包括使用锌作为针对 COVID-19 感染的饮食疗法/抗病毒药物的辅助疗法。总的来说，这篇综述总结了锌和铜的营养干预可能提供一种替代治疗策略，通过几个基本的分子级联反应引发它们的杀病毒作用，例如免疫反应的调节、氧化还原信号、自噬以及病毒进入和基因组复制的阻碍在 SARS-CoV-2 感染期间。