Efficacy of decamethoxin against complex viruses regardless of their antigenic structure: prospects for use in modern viral diseases of the respiratory tract

Abstract

At the end of the 2019 and the beginning of 2020, an outbreak of viral pneumonia caused by the new coronavirus Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) began. From the history of outbreaks of severe acute respiratory syndrome in 2002–2003 and the Middle East respiratory syndrome in 2012, it is known that an effective and safe etiotropic treatment of coronavirus infection does not exist. Therefore, the actual challenge today is the fight against coronavirus infection. Potentially effective antiviral agents are antiseptics from the group of surfactants. In particular, decamethoxin, which has a pronounced bactericidal, fungicidal and antiprotistal effect, also has experimentally proven antiviral activity. In vitro, it was shown that decamethoxin exhibits a statistically significant virucidal effect influencing the extracellular virus with possible damage to the viral protease. In experiments on the tissue cultures and experimental animals, the ability of decamethoxin to inhibit the replication of influenza A and B viruses, herpes simplex virus by affecting the stage of virus penetration into the cell and viral nucleic acid replication has been proved. Another mechanism of decamethoxin action can be considered its effect on the early stages of the interaction of the virus with the host cell such as adsorption, penetration and deproteinization of the virus. The use of decamethoxin for the treatment of respiratory tract infections is pathogenetically justified due to the dosage form of a sterile solution for inhalation using a nebulizer — Decasan® single-dose containers. Decamethoxin is successfully used in the treatment of patients with infectious exacerbations of bronchial asthma and chronic bronchitis without negative impact on bronchial obstruction. The proven efficacy of decamethoxin as an effective agent against complex viruses regardless of their antigenic structure gives grounds for its practical use in respiratory tract infections, including coronavirus infection.

Keywords

• coronavirus infection
• antiviral properties
• decamethoxin
• nebulizer therapy