Antiviral activity of 5-aminolevulinic acid against variants of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2

Tropical Medicine and Health

Jiro Yasuda¹  Yasuteru Sakurai¹  Norifumi Shioda²  Kouichi Morita³  Mya Myat Ngwe Tun³  Yohei Kurosaki⁴  Kiyoshi Kita⁵  Daniel Ken Inaoka⁶  Takaya Sakura⁶ 

[1] Department of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Institute of Tropical Medicine (NEKKEN), Nagasaki University, 852-8523, Nagasaki, Japan;National Research Center for the Control and Prevention of Infectious Diseases, Nagasaki University, 852-8523, Nagasaki, Japan;Department of Genomic Neurology, Institute of Molecular Embryology and Genetics (IMEG), Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan;Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan;Department of Virology, Institute of Tropical Medicine (NEKKEN), Nagasaki University, 1-12-4 Sakamoto, 852-8523, Nagasaki, Japan;National Research Center for the Control and Prevention of Infectious Diseases, Nagasaki University, 852-8523, Nagasaki, Japan;School of Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nagasaki University, 852-8523, Nagasaki, Japan;Department of Host-Defense Biochemistry, Institute of Tropical Medicine (NEKKEN), Nagasaki University, 852-8523, Nagasaki, Japan;Shionogi Global Infectious Diseases Division, Department of Molecular Infection Dynamics, Institute of Tropical Medicine (NEKKEN), Nagasaki University, 852-8523, Nagasaki, Japan;

关键词: SARS-CoV-2 variants;    5-ALA;    SFC;    Anti-viral drug;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s41182-021-00397-x

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundGenetic 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.MethodsThe antiviral activity of ALA with or without SFC was determined in Vero-E6 cell. The virus inhibition was quantified by real time RT-PCR.ResultsCo-administration of 5-ALA and SFC inhibited the Wuhan, Alpha and Delta variants of SARS-CoV-2 with IC50 values of 235, 173 and 397 µM, respectively, and the Beta and Gamma variants with IC50 values of 1311 and 1516 µM.ConclusionOur 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.

【 授权许可】

CC BY