Remdesivir and chloroquine effectively inhibit the recently emerged novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in vitro
Wang et al.,
Remdesivir and chloroquine effectively inhibit the recently emerged novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in vitro,
Cell Res. 30, 269–271, doi:L10.1038/s41422-020-0282-0 (In Vitro)
In Vitro study showing that Remdesivir and CQ potently blocked SARS-CoV-2 infection.
14 In Vitro studies support the efficacy of HCQ
[Andreani, Clementi, Dang, Delandre, Faísca, Hoffmann, Liu, Ou, Purwati, Sheaff, Wang, Wang (B), Yao, Yuan].
Wang et al., 4 Feb 2020, peer-reviewed, 10 authors.
In Vitro studies are an important part of preclinical research, however results may be very different in vivo.
Abstract: www.nature.com/cr
www.cell-research.com
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
OPEN
Remdesivir and chloroquine effectively inhibit the recently
emerged novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in vitro
1234567890();,:
Cell Research (2020) 30:269–271; https://doi.org/10.1038/s41422-020-0282-0
Dear Editor,
In December 2019, a novel pneumonia caused by a previously
unknown pathogen emerged in Wuhan, a city of 11 million
people in central China. The initial cases were linked to
exposures in a seafood market in Wuhan.1 As of January 27,
2020, the Chinese authorities reported 2835 confirmed cases in
mainland China, including 81 deaths. Additionally, 19 confirmed
cases were identified in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and 39
imported cases were identified in Thailand, Japan, South Korea,
United States, Vietnam, Singapore, Nepal, France, Australia
and Canada. The pathogen was soon identified as a novel
coronavirus (2019-nCoV), which is closely related to sever acute
respiratory syndrome CoV (SARS-CoV).2 Currently, there is no
specific treatment against the new virus. Therefore, identifying
effective antiviral agents to combat the disease is urgently
needed.
An efficient approach to drug discovery is to test whether
the existing antiviral drugs are effective in treating related
viral infections. The 2019-nCoV belongs to Betacoronavirus
which also contains SARS-CoV and Middle East respiratory
syndrome CoV (MERS-CoV). Several drugs, such as ribavirin,
interferon, lopinavir-ritonavir, corticosteroids, have been used in
patients with SARS or MERS, although the efficacy of some drugs
remains controversial.3 In this study, we evaluated the antiviral
efficiency of five FAD-approved drugs including ribavirin,
penciclovir, nitazoxanide, nafamostat, chloroquine and two
well-known broad-spectrum antiviral drugs remdesivir (GS5734) and favipiravir (T-705) against a clinical isolate of 2019nCoV in vitro.
Standard assays were carried out to measure the effects of
these compounds on the cytotoxicity, virus yield and infection
rates of 2019-nCoVs. Firstly, the cytotoxicity of the candidate
compounds in Vero E6 cells (ATCC-1586) was determined by the
CCK8 assay. Then, Vero E6 cells were infected with nCoV2019BetaCoV/Wuhan/WIV04/20192 at a multiplicity of infection
(MOI) of 0.05 in the presence of varying concentrations of the
test drugs. DMSO was used in the controls. Efficacies were
evaluated by quantification of viral copy numbers in the cell
supernatant via quantitative real-time RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) and
confirmed with visualization of virus nucleoprotein (NP) expression through immunofluorescence microscopy at 48 h post
infection (p.i.) (cytopathic effect was not obvious at this time
point of infection). Among the seven tested drugs, high
concentrations of three nucleoside analogs including ribavirin
(half-maximal effective concentration (EC50) = 109.50 μM, halfcytotoxic concentration (CC50) > 400 μM, selectivity index (SI) >
3.65), penciclovir (EC50 = 95.96 μM, CC50 > 400 μM, SI > 4.17) and
favipiravir (EC50 = 61.88 μM, CC50 > 400 μM, SI > 6.46) were
required to reduce the viral infection (Fig. 1a and Supplementary information, Fig. S1). However, favipiravir has been shown
Received: 25 January 2020 Accepted: 28 January 2020
Published online: 4 February 2020
© The Author(s) 2020
to be 100% effective in protecting mice against Ebola virus
challenge, although its EC50 value in Vero E6 cells was as high
as 67 μM,4 suggesting further in vivo studies are recommended
to evaluate this antiviral..
Please send us corrections, updates, or comments. Vaccines and
treatments are complementary. All practical, effective, and safe means should
be used based on risk/benefit analysis. No treatment, vaccine, or intervention
is 100% available and effective for all current and future variants. We do not
provide medical advice. Before taking any medication, consult a qualified
physician who can provide personalized advice and details of risks and
benefits based on your medical history and situation.
FLCCC and
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