The non-specific antiviral activity of polysulfates to fight SARS-CoV-2, its mutants and viruses with cationic spikes.

Polyanions are negatively charged macromolecules known for several decades as inhibitors of many viruses , notably AIDS virus. In the case of enveloped viruses, this activity was assigned to the formation of a polyelectrolyte complex between an anionic species, the polyanion, and the spike cationic proteins which are, for polymer chemists, comparable to cationic polyelectrolytes. Unfortunately, antiviral activity was not confirmed , possibly because polyanions were captured by cationic blood elements before reaching target cells. Accordingly, virologists abandoned the use of polyanions for antiviral therapy. In the case of coronaviruses like SARS-CoV-2 and its mutants the game may not be over because these viruses infect cells of airways and not of blood. This communication proposes strategies to use polysulfates to attack and inhibit viral particles before they reach target cells in the airways. For this, polysulfate solutions may be administered by spray, gargling and nebulization or used to capture virus-containing droplets and aerosols by bubbling when these vectors are in the atmosphere. The technical means exist. However, biocompatibility and biofunctionality tests are necessary in the case of airways. Such tests require manipulation of pathogens, something which is beyond the competences of a biomaterialist. For this, a specialist in virology is necessary. Attempts to find one failed so far despite all-around solicitations over the past ten months and despite the fact that attacking the virus with polysulfates may complement beneficially the defensive strategies based on masks, vaccines and hospitals.