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Brief Report

Feasibility Study of Developing a Saline-Based Antiviral Nanoformulation Containing Lipid-Soluble EGCG: A Potential Nasal Drug to Treat Long COVID

1
Department of Oral Biology & Diagnostic Sciences, Augusta University, Augusta, GA 30912, USA
2
Camellix Research Laboratory, Augusta, GA 30912, USA
3
Department of Cellular Biology and Anatomy, Augusta University, Augusta, GA 30912, USA
4
Changxing Sanju Biotech Co., Ltd., Hangzhou 310013, China
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Viruses 2024, 16(2), 196; https://doi.org/10.3390/v16020196
Submission received: 13 December 2023 / Revised: 24 January 2024 / Accepted: 25 January 2024 / Published: 27 January 2024

Abstract

A recent estimate indicates that up to 23.7 million Americans suffer from long COVID, and approximately one million workers may be out of the workforce each day due to associated symptoms, leading to a USD 50 billion annual loss of salary. Post-COVID (Long COVID) neurologic symptoms are due to the initial robust replication of SARS-CoV-2 in the nasal neuroepithelial cells, leading to inflammation of the olfactory epithelium (OE) and the central nervous system (CNS), and the OE becoming a persistent infection site. Previously, our group showed that Epigallocatechin-3-gallate-palmitate (EC16) nanoformulations possess strong antiviral activity against human coronavirus, suggesting this green tea-derived compound in nanoparticle formulations could be developed as an intranasally delivered new drug to eliminate the persistent SARS-CoV-2 infection, leading to restored olfactory function and reduced inflammation in the CNS. The objective of the current study was to determine the compatibility of the nanoformulations with human nasal primary epithelial cells (HNpECs). Methods: Nanoparticle size was measured using the ZetaView Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis (NTA) system; contact antiviral activity was determined by TCID50 assay for cytopathic effect on MRC-5 cells; post-infection inhibition activity was determined in HNpECs; and cytotoxicity for these cells was determined using an MTT assay. The rapid inactivation of OC43 (a β-coronavirus) and 229E (α-coronavirus) viruses was further characterized by transmission electron microscopy. Results: A saline-based nanoformulation containing 0.1% w/v EC16 was able to inactivate 99.9999% β-coronavirus OC43 on direct contact within 1 min. After a 10-min incubation of infected HNpECs with a formulation containing drug-grade EC16 (EGCG-4′ mono-palmitate or EC16m), OC43 viral replication was inhibited by 99%. In addition, all nanoformulations tested for their effect on cell viability were comparable to normal saline, a regularly used nasal irrigation solution. A 1-min incubation of an EC16 nanoformulation with either OC43 or 229E showed an altered viral structure. Conclusion: Nanoformulations containing EC16 showed properties compatible with nasal application to rapidly inactivate SARS-CoV-2 residing in the olfactory mucosa and to reduce inflammation in the CNS, pending additional formulation and safety studies.
Keywords: COVID-19; Long COVID; EC16; EGCG-palmitate; nanoformulations COVID-19; Long COVID; EC16; EGCG-palmitate; nanoformulations

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MDPI and ACS Style

Frank, N.; Dickinson, D.; Garcia, W.; Liu, Y.; Yu, H.; Cai, J.; Patel, S.; Yao, B.; Jiang, X.; Hsu, S. Feasibility Study of Developing a Saline-Based Antiviral Nanoformulation Containing Lipid-Soluble EGCG: A Potential Nasal Drug to Treat Long COVID. Viruses 2024, 16, 196. https://doi.org/10.3390/v16020196

AMA Style

Frank N, Dickinson D, Garcia W, Liu Y, Yu H, Cai J, Patel S, Yao B, Jiang X, Hsu S. Feasibility Study of Developing a Saline-Based Antiviral Nanoformulation Containing Lipid-Soluble EGCG: A Potential Nasal Drug to Treat Long COVID. Viruses. 2024; 16(2):196. https://doi.org/10.3390/v16020196

Chicago/Turabian Style

Frank, Nicolette, Douglas Dickinson, William Garcia, Yutao Liu, Hongfang Yu, Jingwen Cai, Sahaj Patel, Bo Yao, Xiaocui Jiang, and Stephen Hsu. 2024. "Feasibility Study of Developing a Saline-Based Antiviral Nanoformulation Containing Lipid-Soluble EGCG: A Potential Nasal Drug to Treat Long COVID" Viruses 16, no. 2: 196. https://doi.org/10.3390/v16020196

APA Style

Frank, N., Dickinson, D., Garcia, W., Liu, Y., Yu, H., Cai, J., Patel, S., Yao, B., Jiang, X., & Hsu, S. (2024). Feasibility Study of Developing a Saline-Based Antiviral Nanoformulation Containing Lipid-Soluble EGCG: A Potential Nasal Drug to Treat Long COVID. Viruses, 16(2), 196. https://doi.org/10.3390/v16020196

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