ABSTRACT
Iodine complexes have known antimicrobial properties along with reported in-vitro antiviral activity for several viruses. Renessans is one such product with iodine complexes and ascorbic acid. The present study was designed to determine its efficacy for SARS-CoV-2 in Rhesus macaque. Rhesus macaque were assigned to: A) prophylactic group (n = 3), (B) treatment group (n = 3), (C) infection control group (n = 4), and (D) negative control group (n = 4). Groups A, B, and C were challenged with 2 × 106 TCID of SARS-CoV-2. The prophylactic group (A) was administered Renessans from 5 days before infection till 8 days postinfection (DPI). The treatment group (B) was administered Renessans from 3 till 8 DPI. Group C was administered water-insoluble fractions only. Nasal swabs from all monkeys of groups A, B, and C remained positive for SARS-CoV-2 till 2 and 7 DPI, while the swabs became negative for groups A and B at 14 DPI. Likewise, fecal matter of monkeys in group A returned negative results during the experiment, while that of group B had significantly decreased viral load (101.5 genome copies/mL) compared to group C (103 genome copies/mL). Hence, it is concluded that Renessans has in-vivo SARS-CoV-2 activity and may result in early clearance of SARS-CoV-2.
ABSTRACT
Since the emergence of COVID-19 pandemic in China in late 2019, scientists are striving hard to explore non-toxic, viable anti-SARS-CoV-2 compounds or medicines. We determined In vitro anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity of oral formulations (syrup and capsule)of an Iodine-complex (Renessans). First, cell cytotoxicity of Renessans on the Vero cells was determined using MTT assay. Afterwards, the antiviral activity of Renessans was determined using viral inhibition assays and TCID50. For this, nontoxic concentrations of the Renessans were used. The results showed that Renessans is nontoxic to the cells up to 50 µg/mL. At 1.5 µg/mL concentration, SARS-CoV-2 production was significantly reduced to 101.43 TCID50 and 101.58 TCID50 for the syrup and capsule, respectively, as compare to virus infected control cells 106.08 TCID50 and we found the dose dependent inhibition of virus replication in the presence of Renessans. Renessans inhibited SARS-CoV-2 with an EC50 value of 0.425 µg/mL and 0.505 µg/mL for syrup and capsule, respectively. Furthermore, there was no virus detected at concentration of 50 µg/mL of Renessans. This study indicates that Renessans, containing iodine, have potential activity against SARS-CoV-2 which needs to be further investigated in human clinical trials.