Frontiers in Pharmacology (Feb 2024)

Individual ingredients of NP-101 (Thymoquinone formula) inhibit SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus infection

  • Abdelrahim Maen,
  • Abdelrahim Maen,
  • Abdelrahim Maen,
  • Betul Gok Yavuz,
  • Yehia I. Mohamed,
  • Abdullah Esmail,
  • Jianming Lu,
  • Amr Mohamed,
  • Asfar S. Azmi,
  • Mohamed Kaseb,
  • Osama Kasseb,
  • Dan Li,
  • Michelle Gocio,
  • Mehmet Kocak,
  • Abdelhafez Selim,
  • Qing Ma,
  • Ahmed O. Kaseb

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2024.1291212
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 15

Abstract

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Thymoquinone TQ, an active ingredient of Nigella Sativa, has been shown to inhibit COVID-19 symptoms in clinical trials. Thymoquinone Formulation (TQF or NP-101) is developed as a novel enteric-coated medication derivative from Nigella Sativa. TQF consists of TQ with a favorable concentration and fatty acids, including palmitic, oleic, and linoleic acids. In this study, we aimed to investigate the roles of individual ingredients of TQF on infection of SARS-CoV-2 variants in-vitro, by utilizing Murine Leukemia Virus (MLV) based pseudovirus particles. We demonstrated that NP-101, TQ, and other individual ingredients, including oleic, linoleic, and palmitic acids inhibited SARS-CoV-2 infection in the MLV-based pseudovirus model. A large, randomized phase 2 study of NP-101 is planned in outpatient COVID-19 patients.

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