Yuan Lunzhi, Zhu Huachen, Zhou Ming, Ma Jian, Liu Xuan, Wu Kun, Ye Jianghui, Yu Huan, Chen Peiwen, Chen Rirong, Wang Jia, Zhang Yali, Ge Shengxiang, Yuan Quan, Cheng Tong, Guan Yi, Xia Ningshao
State Key Laboratory of Molecular Vaccinology and Molecular Diagnostics, National Institute of Diagnostics and Vaccine Development in Infectious Diseases, School of Life Sciences, School of Public Health, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China.
State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases, School of Public Health, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
iScience. 2022 Dec 22;25(12):105475. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.105475. Epub 2022 Nov 2.
Recently, a new variant lineage of SARS-CoV-2, namely Omicron, became the dominant global circulating strain. The multiple antigenic mutations of Omicron largely decrease the efficiency of current vaccines and neutralizing antibodies, which highlights the need for more potent and reachable medical countermeasures. Here, we hypothesize that direct viral clearance by nasal irrigation might be a convenient and alternative option, and perform proof-of-concept experiments in the Syrian hamster model. Interestingly, Omicron shows a different dynamic in the changes of viral RNA, viral titers, and proinflammatory cytokines in nasal rinsing samples when compared with the prototype. Meanwhile, the levels of viral load and proinflammatory cytokines in nasal rinsing samples can indicate the severity of lung injury. Of note, daily nasal irrigation efficiently attenuates inflammation and lung injury in Omicron-infected hamsters by decreasing the viral loads in the respiratory tract organs. Moreover, daily nasal irrigation effectively suppresses viral transmission by close contact.
最近，一种新型的严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2）变异谱系，即奥密克戎，成为全球主要的流行毒株。奥密克戎的多个抗原性突变大大降低了当前疫苗和中和抗体的效力，这凸显了对更有效且可及的医学应对措施的需求。在此，我们假设通过鼻腔冲洗直接清除病毒可能是一种便捷的替代选择，并在叙利亚仓鼠模型中进行了概念验证实验。有趣的是，与原型毒株相比，奥密克戎在鼻腔冲洗样本中的病毒RNA、病毒滴度和促炎细胞因子变化方面呈现出不同的动态。同时，鼻腔冲洗样本中的病毒载量和促炎细胞因子水平可以指示肺损伤的严重程度。值得注意的是，每日鼻腔冲洗通过降低呼吸道器官中的病毒载量，有效减轻了奥密克戎感染仓鼠的炎症和肺损伤。此外，每日鼻腔冲洗可有效抑制密切接触导致的病毒传播。
