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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2020.06.14.150490

The serotonin reuptake inhibitor Fluoxetine inhibits SARS-CoV-2

Zimniak, M.·Kirschner, L.·Hilpert, H.·Seibel, J.·Bodem, J.
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Abstract

To circumvent time-consuming clinical trials, testing whether existing drugs are effective inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2, has led to the discovery of Remdesivir. We decided to follow this path and screened approved medications "off-label" against SARS-CoV-2. In these screenings, Fluoxetine inhibited SARS-CoV-2 at a concentration of 0.8{micro}g/ml significantly, and the EC50 was determined with 387ng/ml. Fluoxetine is a racemate consisting of both stereoisomers, while the S-form is the dominant serotonin reuptake inhibitor. We found that both isomers show similar activity on the virus. Fluoxetine treatment resulted in a decrease in viral protein expression. Furthermore, Fluoxetine inhibited neither Rabies virus, human respiratory syncytial virus replication nor the Human Herpesvirus 8 or Herpes simplex virus type 1 gene expression, indicating that it acts virus-specific. We see the role of Fluoxetine in the early treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infected patients of risk groups.

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Zimniak, M., Kirschner, L., Hilpert, H., Seibel, J., Bodem, J.. 2020-06-14. The serotonin reuptake inhibitor Fluoxetine inhibits SARS-CoV-2. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.06.14.150490

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