Novel plant-based antiviral drug effective against highly infectious SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant: Study

The study also showed that thapsigargin, recently discovered by the same group of scientists to block other viruses, including the original SARS-CoV-2, was just as effective at treating all of the newer SARS-CoV-2 variants, including the Delta variant.

In their previous studies* the team showed that the plant-derived antiviral, at small doses, triggers a highly effective broad-spectrum host-centered antiviral innate immune response against three major types of human respiratory viruses, including SARS-CoV-2.

In this latest study, the team set out to find out how well the emergent Alpha, Beta, and Delta variants of SARS-CoV-2 are able to multiply in cells relative to each other as single variant infections and in co-infections- where cells are infected with two variants at the same time. The team also wanted to know just how effective TG was at blocking these emergent variants.

Of the three, the Delta variant showed the highest ability to multiply in cells, and was mostly able to spread directly to neighbouring cells; its amplification rate at 24 hours of infection was over four times that of the Alpha variant and nine times more than the Beta variant.

In co-infections, the Delta variant boosted the multiplication of its co-infected partners. Furthermore, co-infection with Alpha and Delta or Alpha and Beta conferred multiplication synergy, where total new virus output was greater than the sum of corresponding single-variant infections.

Notably, all SARS-CoV-2 variants were highly susceptible to TG treatment. A single pre-infection priming dose of TG effectively blocked all single-variant infections and every co-infection at greater than 95% relative to controls. Likewise, TG was effective in inhibiting each variant during active infection.

Professor Kin Chow Chang, lead author of the study, said: "Our new study has given us better insights into the dominance of the Delta variant. Even though we have shown that this variant is clearly the most infectious and promotes production of other variants in co-infections, we are pleased to have shown that TG is just as effective against all of them.

"Together, these results point to the antiviral potential of TG as a post-exposure prophylactic and an active therapeutic agent."

Reference:

The study titled, "Emergent SARS-CoV-2 variants: comparative replication dynamics and high sensitivity to thapsigargin," is published in the journal Virulence.