Scientific Reports (Sep 2021)

Probenecid inhibits SARS-CoV-2 replication in vivo and in vitro

  • Jackelyn Murray,
  • Robert J. Hogan,
  • David E. Martin,
  • Kathy Blahunka,
  • Fred D. Sancilio,
  • Rajiv Balyan,
  • Mark Lovern,
  • Richard Still,
  • Ralph A. Tripp

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-97658-w
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 1
pp. 1 – 7

Abstract

Read online

Abstract Effective vaccines are slowing the COVID-19 pandemic, but SARS-CoV-2 will likely remain an issue in the future making it important to have therapeutics to treat patients. There are few options for treating patients with COVID-19. We show probenecid potently blocks SARS-CoV-2 replication in mammalian cells and virus replication in a hamster model. Furthermore, we demonstrate that plasma concentrations up to 50-fold higher than the protein binding adjusted IC90 value are achievable for 24 h following a single oral dose. These data support the potential clinical utility of probenecid to control SARS-CoV-2 infection in humans.