Izzotti Alberto, Fracchia Enzo, Au William, Colombo Monica, Pfeffer Ulrich, Emionite Laura, Pavan Simone, Miotto Daniele, Lova Paola, Grasselli Elena, Faelli Emanuela, Piero Ruggeri, Tiso Micaela, Pulliero Alessandra
Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Genoa, 16132 Genoa, Italy.
IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, 16132 Genoa, Italy.
J Pers Med. 2021 Mar 22;11(3):226. doi: 10.3390/jpm11030226.
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to ravage the human population; therefore, multiple prevention and intervention protocols are being rapidly developed. The aim of our study was to develop a new chemo-prophylactic/-therapeutic strategy that effectively prevents COVID-19 and related complications.
In in vitro studies, COVID-19 infection-sensitive cells were incubated with human oropharyngeal fluids containing high SARS-CoV-2 loads. Levels of infection were determined via intra-cellular virus loads using quantitative PCR (qPCR). Efficacies for infection prevention were determined using several antiviral treatments: lipid-encapsulated ozonized oil (HOO), water-soluble HOO (HOOws), UV, and hydrogen peroxide. In in vivo studies, safety and efficacy of HOO in fighting COVID-19 infection was evaluated in human subjects.
HOO in combination with HOOws was the only treatment able to fully neutralize SARS-CoV-2 as well as its capacity to penetrate and reproduce inside sensitive cells. Accordingly, the feasibility of using HOO/HOOws was tested in vivo. Analysis of expired gas in healthy subjects indicates that HOO administration increases oxygen availability in the lung. For our human studies, HOO/HOOws was administered to 52 cancer patients and 21 healthy subjects at high risk for COVID-19 infection, and all of them showed clinical safety. None of them developed COVID-19 infection, although an incidence of at least 11 cases was expected. Efficacy of HOO/HOOws was tested in four COVID-19 patients obtaining recovery and qPCR negativization in less than 10 days.
Based on our experience, the HOO/HOOws treatment can be administered at standard doses (three pills per day) for chemo-prophylactic purposes to healthy subjects for COVID-19 prevention and at high doses (up to eight pills per day) for therapeutic purposes to infected patients. This combined prevention strategy can provide a novel protocol to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
新冠疫情仍在肆虐全球,因此,多种预防和干预方案正在迅速制定。我们研究的目的是开发一种新的化学预防/治疗策略,以有效预防新冠病毒及相关并发症。
在体外研究中,将对新冠病毒感染敏感的细胞与含有高载量严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2(SARS-CoV-2)的人咽漱液一起孵育。通过定量聚合酶链反应(qPCR)检测细胞内病毒载量来确定感染水平。使用几种抗病毒治疗方法来确定预防感染的效果:脂质包裹的臭氧化油(HOO)、水溶性HOO(HOOws)、紫外线和过氧化氢。在体内研究中,评估了HOO对人类受试者抗击新冠病毒感染的安全性和有效性。
HOO与HOOws联合使用是唯一能够完全中和SARS-CoV-2及其在敏感细胞内渗透和复制能力的治疗方法。因此,在体内测试了使用HOO/HOOws的可行性。对健康受试者呼出气体的分析表明,服用HOO可增加肺部的氧气供应。在我们的人体研究中,将HOO/HOOws给予52名癌症患者和21名新冠病毒感染高风险的健康受试者,他们均表现出临床安全性。尽管预计至少会有11例感染,但他们均未感染新冠病毒。在4例新冠患者中测试了HOO/HOOws的疗效,这些患者在不到10天的时间内康复且qPCR检测呈阴性。
根据我们的经验,HOO/HOOws治疗可按标准剂量(每日三片)用于健康受试者的化学预防以预防新冠病毒,按高剂量(每日最多八片)用于感染患者的治疗。这种联合预防策略可为抗击新冠疫情提供一种新方案。