Drug synergy of combinatory treatment with remdesivir and the repurposed drugs fluoxetine and itraconazole effectively impairs SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro.

ABSTRACT:

Background and purpose

The SARS-COV-2 pandemic and the global spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) urgently call for efficient and safe antiviral treatment strategies. A straightforward approach to speed up drug development at lower costs is drug repurposing. Here, we investigated the therapeutic potential of targeting the interface of SARS CoV-2 with the host via repurposing of clinically licensed drugs and evaluated their use in combinatory treatments with virus- and host-directed drugs in vitro.

Experimental approach

We tested the antiviral potential of the antifungal itraconazole and the antidepressant fluoxetine on the production of infectious SARS-CoV-2 particles in the polarized Calu-3 cell culture model and evaluated the added benefit of a combinatory use of

SUBMITTER: Schloer S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8251190 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature