Vercellino Nicole, Ferrari Alessandro, Sammartino José Camilla, Bellan Mattia, Iskandar Elizabeth, Lilleri Daniele, Minisini Rosalba
Department of Translational Medicine, Università del Piemonte Orientale, 28100 Novara, Italy.
Microbiology and Virology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, 27100 Pavia, Italy.
Pathogens. 2025 Aug 2;14(8):765. doi: 10.3390/pathogens14080765.
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the etiologic agent that causes the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) identified in Wuhan, in 2019. Men are more prone to developing severe manifestations than women, suggesting a possible crucial role of sex hormones. 17,β-Estradiol (E2) and 1,25 α dihydroxyvitamin D (calcitriol) act upon gene pathways as immunomodulators in several infectious respiratory diseases. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the influence of E2 and calcitriol on the VSV-based pseudovirus SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro. We infected Vero E6 cells with the recombinant VSV-based pseudovirus SARS-CoV-2 and the SARS-CoV-2 viruses according to the pre-treatment and pre-post-treatment models. The Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2) and Vitamin D Receptor (VDR) gene expression did not change under different treatments. The VSV-based pseudovirus SARS-CoV-2 infection showed a significant decrease in the focus-forming unit count in the presence of E2 and calcitriol (either alone or in combination) in the pre-treatment model, while in the pre-post-treatment model, the infection was inhibited only in the presence of E2. Th SARS-CoV-2 infection highlighted a decrease in viral titres in the presence of E2 and calcitriol only in the pre-post-treatment model. 17,β-Estradiol and calcitriol can exert an inhibitory effect on SARS-CoV-2 infections, demonstrating their protective role against viral infections.
严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2）是2019年在武汉发现的导致冠状病毒病（COVID-19）的病原体。男性比女性更容易出现严重症状，这表明性激素可能起关键作用。17-β-雌二醇（E2）和1,25α-二羟基维生素D（骨化三醇）作为免疫调节剂作用于多种传染性呼吸道疾病的基因通路。在本研究中，我们旨在评估E2和骨化三醇对基于水疱性口炎病毒（VSV）的SARS-CoV-2假病毒以及体外SARS-CoV-2感染的影响。我们根据预处理和预处理后模型，用重组的基于VSV的SARS-CoV-2假病毒和SARS-CoV-2病毒感染Vero E6细胞。在不同处理下，血管紧张素转换酶2（ACE2）和维生素D受体（VDR）基因表达没有变化。在预处理模型中，在存在E2和骨化三醇（单独或联合使用）的情况下，基于VSV的SARS-CoV-2假病毒感染的灶形成单位计数显著降低，而在预处理后模型中，仅在存在E2时感染受到抑制。SARS-CoV-2感染仅在预处理后模型中显示在存在E2和骨化三醇时病毒滴度降低。17-β-雌二醇和骨化三醇可对SARS-CoV-2感染发挥抑制作用，证明它们对病毒感染具有保护作用。
