Zeitschrift für Infektionskrankheiten und Präventivmedizin
Offener Zugang
ISSN: 2329-8731
ISSN: 2329-8731
Padmanabha Reddy RV*
Purpose: The nasal mucosa is the primary site of infection and replication for most cold-causing viruses including influenza (H1N1) and SARS-CoV-2. It was hypothesized, carrageenan’s would block viral entry at respiratory mucosa and interfere with viral replication propagation locally. The goal of this experiment was to test the antiviral effects of kappa carrageenan and Iota carrageenan in fully differentiated human airway epithelial cells cultivated at the airliquid interface against influenza (H1N1) and SARS-CoV-2 virus infection.
Methods: To assess the efficacy of test product on human airway epithelial cells, apical viral replication (genome copy number) was quantified, tissue integrity was measured. Epithelia (MucilAir™-Pool) cells were used for the study. The experiment was designed to test the antiviral effects of kappa carrageenan in fully differentiated human airway epithelial cells cultivated at the air-liquid interface against influenza (H1N1) and SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Results: Study results show the reference drug oseltamivir inhibits apical H1N1genome copies by >3 log10, Kappa carrageenan by >1 log10 units and Iota carrageenan by and Iota Carrageenan by 2 units. About SARS-CoV-2 infection study results indicate; SARS-CoV-2 apical replication at both time points, by 3.2; 2.3 log10 and 2.1 and 1.1 log10 respectively. Drug Remdesivir inhibits apical SARS-CoV-2 genome copies at 48 and 72 hours, by 3.4 and 4.2 log10, respectively. Kappa carrageenan and Iota carrageenan effectively inhibits SARS-CoV-2 apical replication at both time points, by 3.2, 2.3 log10 and 2.1 and 1.1 log10 respectively.
Conclusion: The study demonstrates that antiviral effect developed Kappa Carrageenan nasal spray product has better efficacy than the Iota carrageenan comparator product.