In silico analysis of tecovirimat a repurposed drug against the monkeypox virus, its off-target human proteins, and impact on human health

Objective: In this study, in silico analysis of human off-target proteins of tecovirimat, an investigational drug reported to stop monkey pox virus infection by binding to a protein that the virus uses to enter host cells was performed to better understand its off-target long-term and short-term effects on other important biological processes in patients. Methods: The target and off-target proteins of the drug, as well as their characteristics, protein-protein interactions, and the pathways they are involved in, were thoroughly analyzed using a number of databases, including Drug Bank, the NCBI Gene Database, BLAST, the UCSC Gene Sorter, Gene MANIA, STRING, and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) Pathway Database. Results: The current study showed that although the repurposing drug tecovirimat aids in the treatment of patients with monkeypox by binding to the viral p37 protein, it can also accidentally interfere with vital biological processes by interacting with off-target proteins or by indirectly interfering with the proteins that interact with these target proteins. Conclusion: The findings highlight the importance of extensively assessing and evaluating all repurposed drugs for their off-target effects before making them available to the general public.