1. Antiviral and Anti-Inflammatory Activities of Fluoxetine in a SARS-CoV-2 Infection Mouse Model.
- Author
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Péricat D, Leon-Icaza SA, Sanchez Rico M, Mühle C, Zoicas I, Schumacher F, Planès R, Mazars R, Gros G, Carpinteiro A, Becker KA, Izopet J, Strub-Wourgaft N, Sjö P, Neyrolles O, Kleuser B, Limosin F, Gulbins E, Kornhuber J, Meunier E, Hoertel N, and Cougoule C
- Subjects
- Animals, Mice, Anti-Inflammatory Agents pharmacology, Anti-Inflammatory Agents therapeutic use, Antiviral Agents pharmacology, Antiviral Agents therapeutic use, Ceramides, Disease Models, Animal, Fluoxetine pharmacology, Fluoxetine therapeutic use, SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 Drug Treatment
- Abstract
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to cause significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. Since a large portion of the world's population is currently unvaccinated or incompletely vaccinated and has limited access to approved treatments against COVID-19, there is an urgent need to continue research on treatment options, especially those at low cost and which are immediately available to patients, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Prior in vitro and observational studies have shown that fluoxetine, possibly through its inhibitory effect on the acid sphingomyelinase/ceramide system, could be a promising antiviral and anti-inflammatory treatment against COVID-19. In this report, we evaluated the potential antiviral and anti-inflammatory activities of fluoxetine in a K18-hACE2 mouse model of SARS-CoV-2 infection, and against variants of concern in vitro, i.e., SARS-CoV-2 ancestral strain, Alpha B.1.1.7, Gamma P1, Delta B1.617 and Omicron BA.5. Fluoxetine, administrated after SARS-CoV-2 infection, significantly reduced lung tissue viral titres and expression of several inflammatory markers (i.e., IL-6, TNFα, CCL2 and CXCL10). It also inhibited the replication of all variants of concern in vitro. A modulation of the ceramide system in the lung tissues, as reflected by the increase in the ratio HexCer 16:0/Cer 16:0 in fluoxetine-treated mice, may contribute to explain these effects. Our findings demonstrate the antiviral and anti-inflammatory properties of fluoxetine in a K18-hACE2 mouse model of SARS-CoV-2 infection, and its in vitro antiviral activity against variants of concern, establishing fluoxetine as a very promising candidate for the prevention and treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection and disease pathogenesis.
- Published
- 2022
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