A workforce of scientists from Thailand has developed a curcumin-containing oro-nasal movie spray, which reveals potential antiviral exercise and mucosal immunity-boosting exercise towards extreme acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and influenza viruses.
The research is printed within the Virology Journal.
Background
SARS-CoV-2, the causative pathogen of coronavirus illness 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, is an enveloped RNA virus that primarily causes delicate to extreme respiratory infections. Influenza virus varieties A, B, and C are additionally RNA viruses that trigger seasonal respiratory infections generally referred to as flu.
Infections brought on by SARS-CoV-2 and influenza viruses are related to excessive mortality charges. Though each viruses can have an effect on individuals from all age teams, extra lethal infections happen in older individuals and immunocompromised sufferers.
Bioactive compounds derived from crops have gained immense consideration within the medical group due to their potent antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, and antimicrobial actions. Curcumin is a promising plant-derived compound that reveals potential antiviral and immunomodulatory actions towards SARS-CoV-2 and influenza A virus.
On this research, scientists have developed an oro-nasal movie spray containing curcumin and examined its antiviral and mucosal innate immunity-boosting actions towards SARS-CoV-2 and influenza viruses.
Research design
The antiviral exercise of oro-nasal movie spray containing 10 µg/ml of curcumin was examined towards SARS-CoV-2, influenza A/H1N1, influenza A/H3N2, and influenza B by plaque discount assay. Completely different cytotoxicity assays had been performed to find out the viability of oral keratinocytes, nasal epithelial cells, and different examined cell traces in response to the movie spray.
Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was performed to find out the degrees of oral and nasal innate immune markers (LL-37, HD-5, and human β defensin 2) in response to the movie spray. Furthermore, the degrees of pro-inflammatory markers (interleukins, tumor necrosis issue, and interferon) had been additionally decided.
Essential observations
The elemental bodily properties of the curcumin formulation, together with colour, pH, droplet dimension, osmolarity, and viscosity, had been examined within the research. The findings confirmed no alteration in properties after freeze-thawing, indicating the steadiness of the formulation.
Concerning the cytotoxicity and antiviral exercise of curcumin, the research discovered that the compound is able to inhibiting viral an infection at 6.25 µg/ml focus by blocking the interplay between SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and human cell membrane receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). On the examined focus, no cytotoxic impact of curcumin compound was noticed.
Much like the curcumin compound, curcumin-containing movie spray confirmed important efficacy in inhibiting viral an infection at 10 µg/ml focus with out affecting cell viability. The selectivity index of curcumin compound and curcumin-containing movie spray was estimated to be 1.23 and 1.68, respectively. The selectivity index defines the window between cytotoxicity and antiviral exercise. The upper the index worth, the more practical and safer a drug could be throughout an in vivo therapy for a given viral an infection.
Concerning antiviral actions towards all examined viruses, the research discovered that curcumin movie spray has the very best inhibitory exercise towards SARS-CoV-2, adopted by influenza B virus and influenza A/H1N1 virus. Nevertheless, the spray confirmed solely a slight inhibitory exercise towards influenza A/H3N2 virus.
Impact of curcumin movie spray on mucosal innate immunity
The estimation of oral and nasal innate immunity markers revealed that curcumin movie spray might considerably induce the secretion of antimicrobial peptides LL-37 and HD-5 and scale back the secretion of hBD-2 protein by oral keratinocytes. Nevertheless, no upregulated secretion of antimicrobial peptides from nasal epithelial cells was detected in response to the curcumin spray.
Concerning inflammatory cytokines, oral keratinocytes produced an upregulated quantity of interleukin 6 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha in response to curcumin movie spray. Nevertheless, nasal epithelial cells didn’t expertise such an impact.
Research significance
The research describes the antiviral and immunomodulatory actions of a novel curcumin-containing oro-nasal movie spray. The spray reveals important inhibitory exercise towards SARS-CoV-2 and influenza viruses with out inducing cytotoxicity at therapeutic doses. The spray can be able to inducing the secretion of antimicrobial peptides and anti inflammatory mediators by oral keratinocytes.
General, the research signifies that this curcumin movie spray could also be successfully used to dam viral entry into host cells, stop lung damage, and scale back illness severity.