Turmeric Root and Its Bioactive Ingredient Curcumin Effectively Neutralize SARS-CoV-2 In Vitro

Overview

Journal Viruses

Publisher MDPI

Specialty Microbiology

Date 2021 Oct 26

PMID 34696344

Citations 26

Authors

Maren Bormann

Mira Alt

Leonie Schipper

Lukas van de Sand

Vu Thuy Khanh Le-Trilling

Lydia Rink

Natalie Heinen

Rabea Julia Madel

Mona Otte

Korbinian Wuensch

Christiane Silke Heilingloh

Thorsten Mueller

Ulf Dittmer

Carina Elsner

Stephanie Pfaender

Mirko Trilling

Oliver Witzke

Adalbert Krawczyk

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the causative agent of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The availability of effective and well-tolerated antiviral drugs for the treatment of COVID-19 patients is still very limited. Traditional herbal medicines elicit antiviral activity against various viruses and might therefore represent a promising option for the complementary treatment of COVID-19 patients. The application of turmeric root in herbal medicine has a very long history. Its bioactive ingredient curcumin shows a broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity. In the present study, we investigated the antiviral activity of aqueous turmeric root extract, the dissolved content of a curcumin-containing nutritional supplement capsule, and pure curcumin against SARS-CoV-2. Turmeric root extract, dissolved turmeric capsule content, and pure curcumin effectively neutralized SARS-CoV-2 at subtoxic concentrations in Vero E6 and human Calu-3 cells. Furthermore, curcumin treatment significantly reduced SARS-CoV-2 RNA levels in cell culture supernatants. Our data uncover curcumin as a promising compound for complementary COVID-19 treatment. Curcumin concentrations contained in turmeric root or capsules used as nutritional supplements completely neutralized SARS-CoV-2 in vitro. Our data argue in favor of appropriate and carefully monitored clinical studies that vigorously test the effectiveness of complementary treatment of COVID-19 patients with curcumin-containing products.

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