Suramin Inhibits SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Cell Culture by Interfering with Early Steps of the Replication Cycle.
Antimicrob Agents Chemother
; 64(8)2020 07 22.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-574704
Preprint
This scientific journal article is probably based on a previously available preprint. It has been identified through a machine matching algorithm, human confirmation is still pending.
See preprint
This scientific journal article is probably based on a previously available preprint. It has been identified through a machine matching algorithm, human confirmation is still pending.
See preprint
ABSTRACT
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic that originated in Wuhan, China, in December 2019 has impacted public health, society, the global economy, and the daily lives of billions of people in an unprecedented manner. There are currently no specific registered antiviral drugs to treat or prevent SARS-CoV-2 infections. Therefore, drug repurposing would be the fastest route to provide at least a temporary solution while better, more specific drugs are being developed. Here, we demonstrate that the antiparasitic drug suramin inhibits SARS-CoV-2 replication, protecting Vero E6 cells with a 50% effective concentration (EC50) of â¼20 µM, which is well below the maximum attainable level in human serum. Suramin also decreased the viral load by 2 to 3 logs when Vero E6 cells or cells of a human lung epithelial cell line (Calu-3 2B4 [referred to here as "Calu-3"]) were treated. Time-of-addition and plaque reduction assays performed on Vero E6 cells showed that suramin acts on early steps of the replication cycle, possibly preventing binding or entry of the virus. In a primary human airway epithelial cell culture model, suramin also inhibited the progression of infection. The results of our preclinical study warrant further investigation and suggest that it is worth evaluating whether suramin provides any benefit for COVID-19 patients, which obviously requires safety studies and well-designed, properly controlled randomized clinical trials.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Antiviral Agents
/
Pneumonia, Viral
/
Suramin
/
Virus Replication
/
Coronavirus Infections
/
Betacoronavirus
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Topics:
Traditional medicine
Limits:
Animals
/
Humans
Language:
English
Year:
2020
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
AAC.00900-20
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