Cysteamine with In Vitro Antiviral Activity and Immunomodulatory Effects Has the Potential to Be a Repurposing Drug Candidate for COVID-19 Therapy.

ABSTRACT: The ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), needs better treatment options both at antiviral and anti-inflammatory levels. It has been demonstrated that the aminothiol cysteamine, an already human applied drug, and its disulfide product of oxidation, cystamine, have anti-infective properties targeting viruses, bacteria, and parasites. To determine whether these compounds exert antiviral effects against SARS-CoV-2, we used different in vitro viral infected cell-based assays. Moreover, since cysteamine has also immune-modulatory activity, we investigated its ability to modulate SARS-CoV-2-specific immune response in vitro in blood samples from COVID-19 patients. We found that cysteamine and cystamine dec

SUBMITTER: Alonzi T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8750154 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature