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Glycyrrhizin effectively neutralizes SARS-CoV-2 in vitro by inhibiting the viral main protease

L. van de Sand, M. Bormann, M. Alt, L. Schipper, C.S. Heilingloh, D. Todt, U. Dittmer, C. Elsner, O. Witzke, View ORCID ProfileA. Krawczyk
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.12.18.423104
L. van de Sand
1Department of Infectious Diseases, West German Centre of Infectious Diseases, Universitätsmedizin Essen, University Duisburg-Essen, Germany
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M. Bormann
1Department of Infectious Diseases, West German Centre of Infectious Diseases, Universitätsmedizin Essen, University Duisburg-Essen, Germany
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M. Alt
1Department of Infectious Diseases, West German Centre of Infectious Diseases, Universitätsmedizin Essen, University Duisburg-Essen, Germany
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L. Schipper
1Department of Infectious Diseases, West German Centre of Infectious Diseases, Universitätsmedizin Essen, University Duisburg-Essen, Germany
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C.S. Heilingloh
1Department of Infectious Diseases, West German Centre of Infectious Diseases, Universitätsmedizin Essen, University Duisburg-Essen, Germany
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D. Todt
2Department of Molecular and Medical Virology, Faculty of Medicine, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
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U. Dittmer
3Institute for Virology, University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
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C. Elsner
3Institute for Virology, University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
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O. Witzke
1Department of Infectious Diseases, West German Centre of Infectious Diseases, Universitätsmedizin Essen, University Duisburg-Essen, Germany
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A. Krawczyk
1Department of Infectious Diseases, West German Centre of Infectious Diseases, Universitätsmedizin Essen, University Duisburg-Essen, Germany
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  • ORCID record for A. Krawczyk
  • For correspondence: adalbert.krawczyk@uni-due.de
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Abstract

The newly emerged coronavirus, which was designated as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the causative agent of the COVID-19 disease. High effective and well-tolerated medication for hospitalized and non-hospitalized patients is urgently needed. Traditional herbal medicine substances were discussed as promising candidates for the complementary treatment of viral diseases and recently suggested for the treatment of COVID-19. In the present study, we investigated aqueous licorice root extract for its neutralizing activity against SARS-CoV-2 in vitro, identified the active compound glycyrrhizin and uncovered the respective mechanism of viral neutralization. We demonstrated that glycyrrhizin, the primary active ingredient of the licorice root, potently neutralizes SARS-CoV-2 by inhibiting the viral main protease. Our experiments highlight glycyrrhizin as a potential antiviral compound that should be further investigated for the treatment of COVID-19.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Footnotes

  • Competing interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC 4.0 International license.
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Posted December 20, 2020.
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Glycyrrhizin effectively neutralizes SARS-CoV-2 in vitro by inhibiting the viral main protease
L. van de Sand, M. Bormann, M. Alt, L. Schipper, C.S. Heilingloh, D. Todt, U. Dittmer, C. Elsner, O. Witzke, A. Krawczyk
bioRxiv 2020.12.18.423104; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.12.18.423104
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Glycyrrhizin effectively neutralizes SARS-CoV-2 in vitro by inhibiting the viral main protease
L. van de Sand, M. Bormann, M. Alt, L. Schipper, C.S. Heilingloh, D. Todt, U. Dittmer, C. Elsner, O. Witzke, A. Krawczyk
bioRxiv 2020.12.18.423104; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.12.18.423104

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