Possibilities of suppressing the cytopathogenic effect of SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus according to the results of the antiviral activity of Cytovir®-3 in vitro study

Abstract

Introduction. The COVID-19 pandemic has stimulated the search for drugs with specific antiviral activity against the new pathogenic strain of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. First of all, scientific search was aimed at studying drugs with already proven efficacy against influenza and ARVI. The aim of this work was to study the antiviral activity of Cytovir®-3 in vitro in relation to the cytopathogenic effect of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Material and methods. The antiviral activity of the drug Cytovir®-3 against the SARS-CoV-2 virus was studied in experimental models in vitro on Vero CCL81 cell culture (ATCC). The maximum tolerated concentration and the 50% cytotoxic dose were determined using a quantitative microculture tetrazolium test assay to calculate the working range of the concentrations of the test drug. Results and discussion. As a result of the study, it was shown that the greatest activity of the drug was manifested when it was added to the cells 24 hours before and 1 hour and 24 hours after viral infection, the inhibition level reached 53% (>IC50) at the drug concentrations of 105, 55, and 85 µg/ml, respectively. Cytovir®-3 suppressed the viral activity of SARS-CoV-2 in the dose range from 10 µg/ml to 105 µg/ml under the indicated infection conditions. It was found that the drug did not exhibit cytotoxic effects on the Vero cell culture in the range of antiviral doses. Conclusion. The antiviral activity of Cytovir®-3 against the SARS-CoV-2 virus has been proven due to the achievement of IC50, which is below the maximum tolerated dose of 149 µg/ml.