In Vitro Antiviral Activity of Nordihydroguaiaretic Acid against SARS-CoV-2
Erendira Villalobos-Sánchez,
Daniel García-Ruiz,
Tanya A. Camacho-Villegas,
Alejandro A. Canales-Aguirre,
Abel Gutiérrez-Ortega,
José E. Muñoz-Medina,
Darwin E. Elizondo-Quiroga
Affiliations
Erendira Villalobos-Sánchez
Medical and Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Unit, Center of Research and Assistance in Technology and Design of the State of Jalisco, Guadalajara 44270, Mexico
Daniel García-Ruiz
Medical and Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Unit, Center of Research and Assistance in Technology and Design of the State of Jalisco, Guadalajara 44270, Mexico
Tanya A. Camacho-Villegas
CONACYT, Medical and Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Unit, Center of Research and Assistance in Technology and Design of the State of Jalisco, Guadalajara 44270, Mexico
Alejandro A. Canales-Aguirre
Medical and Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Unit, Center of Research and Assistance in Technology and Design of the State of Jalisco, Guadalajara 44270, Mexico
Abel Gutiérrez-Ortega
Medical and Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Unit, Center of Research and Assistance in Technology and Design of the State of Jalisco, Guadalajara 44270, Mexico
José E. Muñoz-Medina
Coordinación de Calidad de Insumos y Laboratorios Especializados, Instituto Mexicano del Seguros Social, México City 27170, Mexico
Darwin E. Elizondo-Quiroga
Medical and Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Unit, Center of Research and Assistance in Technology and Design of the State of Jalisco, Guadalajara 44270, Mexico
The coronavirus infectious disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and has been spreading rapidly worldwide, creating a pandemic. This article describes the evaluation of the antiviral activity of nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA), a molecule found in Creosote bush (Larrea tridentata) leaves, against SARS-CoV-2 in vitro. A 35 µM concentration of NDGA was not toxic to Vero cells and exhibited a remarkable inhibitory effect on the SARS-CoV-2 cytopathic effect, viral plaque formation, RNA replication, and expression of the SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein. The 50% effective concentration for NDGA was as low as 16.97 µM. Our results show that NDGA could be a promising therapeutic candidate against SARS-CoV-2.
