tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Trop Med Health
. 2022 Jan 7;50(1):6.
doi: 10.1186/s41182-021-00397-x.
Antiviral activity of 5-aminolevulinic acid against variants of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
Mya Myat Ngwe Tun[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Takaya Sakura[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Yasuteru Sakurai[SUP] 3 4 [/SUP], Yohei Kurosaki[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Daniel Ken Inaoka[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Norifumi Shioda[SUP] 5 6 [/SUP], Jiro Yasuda[SUP] 7 8 [/SUP], Kiyoshi Kita[SUP] 9 10 [/SUP], Kouichi Morita[SUP] 11 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
Background: Genetic variants of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) began to emerge in 2020 and have been spreading globally during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Despite the presence of different COVID-19 vaccines, the discovery of effective antiviral therapeutics for the treatment of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 are still urgently needed. A natural amino acid, 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA), has exhibited both antiviral and anti-inflammatory activities. In a previous study, we demonstrated an in vitro antiviral effect of 5-ALA against SARS-CoV-2 infection without significant cytotoxicity. In the present study, we sought to investigate whether 5-ALA with or without sodium ferrous citrate (SFC) can inhibit in vitro both the original SARS-CoV-2 Wuhan strain and its variants, including the Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta strains.
Methods: The antiviral activity of ALA with or without SFC was determined in Vero-E6 cell. The virus inhibition was quantified by real time RT-PCR.
Results: Co-administration of 5-ALA and SFC inhibited the Wuhan, Alpha and Delta variants of SARS-CoV-2 with IC[SUB]50[/SUB] values of 235, 173 and 397 µM, respectively, and the Beta and Gamma variants with IC[SUB]50[/SUB] values of 1311 and 1516 µM.
Conclusion: Our study suggests that 5-ALA with SFC warrants accelerated clinical evaluation as an antiviral drug candidate for treating patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 variants.
Keywords: 5-ALA; Anti-viral drug; SARS-CoV-2 variants; SFC.
. 2022 Jan 7;50(1):6.
doi: 10.1186/s41182-021-00397-x.
Antiviral activity of 5-aminolevulinic acid against variants of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
Mya Myat Ngwe Tun[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Takaya Sakura[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Yasuteru Sakurai[SUP] 3 4 [/SUP], Yohei Kurosaki[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Daniel Ken Inaoka[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Norifumi Shioda[SUP] 5 6 [/SUP], Jiro Yasuda[SUP] 7 8 [/SUP], Kiyoshi Kita[SUP] 9 10 [/SUP], Kouichi Morita[SUP] 11 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 34991723
- DOI: 10.1186/s41182-021-00397-x
Abstract
Background: Genetic variants of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) began to emerge in 2020 and have been spreading globally during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Despite the presence of different COVID-19 vaccines, the discovery of effective antiviral therapeutics for the treatment of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 are still urgently needed. A natural amino acid, 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA), has exhibited both antiviral and anti-inflammatory activities. In a previous study, we demonstrated an in vitro antiviral effect of 5-ALA against SARS-CoV-2 infection without significant cytotoxicity. In the present study, we sought to investigate whether 5-ALA with or without sodium ferrous citrate (SFC) can inhibit in vitro both the original SARS-CoV-2 Wuhan strain and its variants, including the Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta strains.
Methods: The antiviral activity of ALA with or without SFC was determined in Vero-E6 cell. The virus inhibition was quantified by real time RT-PCR.
Results: Co-administration of 5-ALA and SFC inhibited the Wuhan, Alpha and Delta variants of SARS-CoV-2 with IC[SUB]50[/SUB] values of 235, 173 and 397 µM, respectively, and the Beta and Gamma variants with IC[SUB]50[/SUB] values of 1311 and 1516 µM.
Conclusion: Our study suggests that 5-ALA with SFC warrants accelerated clinical evaluation as an antiviral drug candidate for treating patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 variants.
Keywords: 5-ALA; Anti-viral drug; SARS-CoV-2 variants; SFC.