Iota carrageenan and xylitol inhibit SARS-CoV-2 in Vero cell culture

Vega, J. C.; Bansal, S.; Jonsson, C. B.; Taylor, S. L.; Figueroa, J. M.; Dugour, A. V.; Palacios, C.

doi:10.1101/2020.08.19.225854

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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2020.08.19.225854

Iota carrageenan and xylitol inhibit SARS-CoV-2 in Vero cell culture

Vega, J. C.·Bansal, S.·Jonsson, C. B.·Taylor, S. L.·Figueroa, J. M.·Dugour, A. V.·Palacios, C.

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Abstract

COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) is a pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2) infection affecting millions of persons around the world. There is an urgent unmet need to provide an easy-to-produce, affordable medicine to prevent transmission and provide early treatment for this disease. The nasal cavity and the rhinopharynx are the sites of initial replication of SARS-CoV-2. Therefore, a nasal spray may be a suitable dosage form for this purpose. The main objective of our study was to test the antiviral action of three candidate nasal spray formulations against SARS-CoV-2. We have found that iota-carrageenan in concentrations as low as 6 {micro}g/ mL inhibits SARS-CoV-2 infection in Vero cell cultures. The concentrations found to be active in vitro against SARS-CoV-2 may be easily achieved by the application of nasal sprays already marketed in several countries. Xylitol at a concentration of 5 % m/V has proved to be viricidal on its own and the association with iota-carrageenan may be beneficial, as well.

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Vega, J. C., Bansal, S., Jonsson, C. B., Taylor, S. L., Figueroa, J. M., Dugour, A. V., Palacios, C.. 2020-08-21. Iota carrageenan and xylitol inhibit SARS-CoV-2 in Vero cell culture. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.08.19.225854

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