Gemcitabine, Lycorine and Oxysophoridine Inhibit Novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) in Cell Culture

Overview

Journal Emerg Microbes Infect

Specialty Infectious Diseases

Date 2020 May 21

PMID 32432977

Citations 63

Authors

Ya-Nan Zhang

Qiu-Yan Zhang

Xiao-Dan Li

Jin Xiong

Shu-Qi Xiao

Zhen Wang

Zhe-Rui Zhang

Cheng-Lin Deng

Xing-Lou Yang

Hong-Ping Wei

Zhi-Ming Yuan

Han-Qing Ye

Bo Zhang

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The emerging SARS-CoV-2 infection associated with the outbreak of viral pneumonia in China is ongoing worldwide. There are no approved antiviral therapies to treat this viral disease. Here we examined the antiviral abilities of three broad-spectrum antiviral compounds gemcitabine, lycorine and oxysophoridine against SARS-CoV-2 in cell culture. We found that all three tested compounds inhibited viral replication in Vero-E6 cells at noncytotoxic concentrations. The antiviral effect of gemcitabine was suppressed efficiently by the cytidine nucleosides. Additionally, combination of gemcitabine with oxysophoridine had an additive antiviral effect against SARS-CoV-2. Our results demonstrate that broad-spectrum antiviral compounds may have a priority for the screening of antiviral compounds against newly emerging viruses to control viral infection.

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