RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Sulforaphane exhibits in vitro and in vivo antiviral activity against pandemic SARS-CoV-2 and seasonal HCoV-OC43 coronaviruses
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2021.03.25.437060
DO 10.1101/2021.03.25.437060
A1 Alvaro A. Ordonez
A1 C. Korin Bullen
A1 Andres F. Villabona-Rueda
A1 Elizabeth A. Thompson
A1 Mitchell L. Turner
A1 Stephanie L. Davis
A1 Oliver Komm
A1 Jonathan D. Powell
A1 Franco R. D’Alessio
A1 Robert H. Yolken
A1 Sanjay K. Jain
A1 Lorraine Jones-Brando
YR 2021
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/03/25/2021.03.25.437060.abstract
AB Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the cause of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has incited a global health crisis. Currently, there are no orally available medications for prophylaxis for those exposed to SARS-CoV-2 and limited therapeutic options for those who develop COVID-19. We evaluated the antiviral activity of sulforaphane (SFN), a naturally occurring, orally available, well-tolerated, nutritional supplement present in high concentrations in cruciferous vegetables with limited side effects. SFN inhibited in vitro replication of four strains of SARS-CoV-2 as well as that of the seasonal coronavirus HCoV-OC43. Further, SFN and remdesivir interacted synergistically to inhibit coronavirus infection in vitro. Prophylactic administration of SFN to K18-hACE2 mice prior to intranasal SARS-CoV-2 infection significantly decreased the viral load in the lungs and upper respiratory tract and reduced lung injury and pulmonary pathology compared to untreated infected mice. SFN treatment diminished immune cell activation in the lungs, including significantly lower recruitment of myeloid cells and a reduction in T cell activation and cytokine production. Our results suggest that SFN is a promising treatment for prevention of coronavirus infection or treatment of early disease.Competing Interest StatementLJ-B, AAO, RHY, and SKJ are co-inventors on pending patent application USPA #63/142,598, Methods for inhibiting coronaviruses using sulforaphane filed by Johns Hopkins University.