RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 The hydroalcoholic extract of <em>Uncaria tomentosa</em> (Cat’s claw) inhibits the replication of novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) <em>in vitro</em>
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2020.11.09.372201
DO 10.1101/2020.11.09.372201
A1 Yepes-Perez, Andres F.
A1 Herrera-Calderón, Oscar
A1 Flórez-Álvarez, Lizdany
A1 Zapata-Cardona, María I.
A1 Yepes, Lina
A1 Aguilar, Wbeimar
A1 Rugeles, María T.
A1 Zapata, Wildeman
YR 2020
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/11/10/2020.11.09.372201.abstract
AB The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a serious problem for public health since it was identified in the province of Wuhan (China) and spread around the world producing high mortality rates and economic losses. Nowadays, WHO recognizes traditional, complementary, and alternative medicine for treating COVID-19 symptoms. Therefore, we investigated the antiviral potential of the hydroalcoholic extract of Uncaria tomentosa stem bark from Peru against SARS-CoV-2 in vitro. The antiviral activity of U. tomentosa against SARS-CoV-2 in vitro was assessed in Vero E6 cells using cytopathic effect (CPE) and plaque reduction assay. After 48h of treatment, U. tomentosa showed an inhibition of 92.7 % of SARS-CoV-2 at 25.0 µg/mL (p&lt;0.0001) by plaque reduction assay on Vero E6 cells. In addition, U. tomentosa, induced a reduction of 98.6 % (p=0.02) and 92.7 % (p=0.03) in the CPE caused by SARS-CoV-2 on Vero E6 cells at 25 µg/mL and 12.5 µg/mL, respectively. The EC50 calculated for U. tomentosa extract by plaque reduction assay was 6.6 µg/mL (4.89 – 8.85 µg/mL) for a selectivity index of 4.1. The EC50 calculated for U. tomentosa extract by TCID50 assay was 2.57 µg/mL (1.05 – 3.75 µg/mL) for a selectivity index of 10.54. These results showed that U. tomentosa known as Cat’s claw has antiviral effect against SARS-CoV-2 observed as a reduction in the viral titer and CPE after 48h of treatment on Vero E6 cells. Therefore, we hypothesized that U. tomentosa stem bark, could be promissory to the development of new therapeutic strategies against SARS-CoV-2.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.