| Title | Antiviral effects of human placenta hydrolysate (Laennec) against SARS-CoV-2 in vitro and in the ferret model |
|---|---|
| Author | Eun-Ha Kim1,2, Young-il Kim1,2, Seung-Gyu Jang1,2, Minju Im3, Kyeongsoo Jeong3, Young Ki Choi1,2*, and Hae-Jung Han3* |
| Address | 1College of Medicine and Medical Research Institute, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju 28644, Republic of Korea, 2Zoonotic Infectious Diseases Research Center, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju 28644, Republic of Korea , 3GREENCROSS WellBeing Co., Ltd., Seoul 07335, Republic of Korea |
| Bibliography | Journal of Microbiology, 59(11),1056-1062, 2021, |
| DOI | 10.1007/s12275-021-1367-2 |
| Key Words | SARS-CoV-2, Laennec, ferret, antiviral, interferon |
| Abstract | The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented health, social, and economic crises worldwide. However, to date, there is an only a limited effective treatment for this disease. Human placenta hydrolysate (hPH) has previously been shown to be safe and to improve the health condition in patients with hyperferritinemia and COVID-19. In this study, we aimed to determine the antiviral effects of hPH against SARS-CoV-2 in vitro and in vivo models and compared with Remdesivir, an FDA-approved drug for COVID-19 treatment. To assess whether hPH inhibited SARS-CoV-2 replication, we determined the CC50, EC50, and selective index (SI) in Vero cells by infection with a SARS-CoV-2 at an MOI of 0.01. Further, groups of ferrets infected with 105.8 TCID50/ml of SARS-CoV-2 and treated with hPH at 2, 4, 6 dpi, and compared their clinical manifestation and virus titers in respiratory tracts with PBS control-treated group. The mRNA expression of immunerelated cytokines was determined by qRT-PCR. hPH treatment attenuated virus replication in a dose-dependent manner in vitro. In a ferret infection study, treatment with hPH resulted in minimal bodyweight loss and attenuated virus replication in the nasal wash, turbinates, and lungs of infected ferrets. In addition, qRT-PCR results revealed that the hPH treatment remarkably upregulated the gene expression of type I (IFN-α and IFN-β) and II (IFN-γ) IFNs in SARS-CoV-2 infected ferrets. Our data collectively suggest that hPH has antiviral efficacy against SARS-CoV-2 and might be a promising therapeutic agent for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection. |