Background Genetic 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. Methods The antiviral activity of ALA with or without SFC was determined in Vero-E6 cell. The virus inhibition was quantified by real time RT-PCR. Results Co-administration of 5-ALA and SFC inhibited the Wuhan, Alpha and Delta variants of SARS-CoV-2 with IC 50 values of 235, 173 and 397 µM, respectively, and the Beta and Gamma variants with IC 50 values of 1311 and 1516 µM. Conclusion Our 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.
【저자키워드】 SARS-CoV-2 variants, anti-viral drug, 5-Ala, SFC, 【초록키워드】 COVID-19, Treatment, coronavirus disease, SARS-CoV-2, coronavirus, pandemic, Anti-inflammatory, Antiviral, sodium, SARS-COV-2 infection, variant, Delta, cytotoxicity, in vitro, antiviral activity, delta variant, RT-PCR, variants, antiviral drug, Antiviral effect, COVID-19 vaccines, clinical evaluation, Wuhan, Patient, virus inhibition, Gamma, Beta, antiviral therapeutics, Strains, Amino acid, real time, acute respiratory syndrome, activities, VERO-E6, effective, Cell, SARS-CoV-2 Wuhan strain, Result, inhibit, inhibited, exhibited, was determined, demonstrated, accelerated, quantified, infected with SARS-CoV-2, 【제목키워드】 coronavirus, variant, acute respiratory syndrome,