COVID Study: Chemicals in Broccoli Delay Virus Replication

Chemicals found in broccoli and other vegetables may provide a “promising” approach for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 until further research is done. Researchers sayAfter it was found that small amounts of compounds reduce SARS-CoV-2 proliferation in mammalian cells and mice.

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center in Baltimore, Maryland, found that sulforaphane, a plant-derived or phytochemical found in broccoli and other crucifixes, is a coronavirus that causes COVID-19, SARS-CoV. We have discovered that it can inhibit the replication of -2. Like some common cold coronaviruses.

Results published in the Nature Journal Communications Biology on March 18 also provide promising evidence after combining lower doses of sulforaphane with remdesivir, an antiviral drug used to treat hospitalized COVID-19 patients. I did.

Researchers say that sulforaphane is already known to have anti-cancer effects, but it is generally because it is unregulated and needs to be studied in humans to prove the effectiveness of the chemical. People should not rush to buy sulforaphane supplements online or in stores.

The team says they plan to conduct human studies to determine if sulforaphane can prevent or treat the infection.

“Despite the introduction of vaccines and other drugs that can cause side effects, it is effective in preventing and treating COVID-19, especially given the potential impact of new coronavirus variants that occur in the population. Antiviral agents are still needed, “said Brand, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Pediatric Center Microbiology Lori Jones-John’s Hopkins University School of Medicine and a senior author of the paper. Said in a statement..

“Sulforaphane has the potential to be a cheaper, safer and more promising treatment on the market soon.”

the study

Researchers used purified synthetic sulforaphane supplied by a commercial chemical supplier and exposed the cells for 1-2 hours prior to infection with SARS-CoV-2 and the common cold coronavirus HCoV-OC43. Did.

They found that sulforaphane at low micromolar concentrations of 2.4-31 micromoles reduced the replication of six strains of SARS-CoV-2 in half, including delta and omicron variants, as well as the common cold coronavirus. I found.

Similar results were observed in cells previously infected with the virus.

Molarity is the number of moles of solute per liter of solution. Mole is a unit of measurement for small particles such as atoms, and 1 micromole is one millionth of the concentration.

Researchers have found that with remdesivir, SARS-CoV-2 and common cold coronavirus replication is delayed by 50% at 4 micromoles and 22 micromoles, respectively.

Further experiments have shown that low doses of sulforaphane in the range of 1.6-3.2 micromoles combined with 0.5-3.2 micromoles of remdesivir are more effective than alone.

“Historically, we have learned that the combination of multiple compounds in a treatment regimen is an ideal strategy for treating viral infections,” said lead author of the paper and assistant professor of pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Alvaro Ordonez said. ..

“The fact that sulforaphane and remdesivir work better in combination than alone is very encouraging.”

Researchers also conducted experiments on male mice and fed them 30 milligrams of sulforaphan per kilogram of body weight prior to infection with SARS-CoV-2, resulting in weight loss compared to infected untreated mice. We found that there was less, 7.5% less.

Pretreated mice had a 17% reduction in lung viral load and a 9% reduction in the upper respiratory tract compared to mice that did not receive sulforaphane.

Lung damage was reduced by 29%, and lung inflammation, which is thought to be the cause of death from COVID-19, was reduced.

“We found that sulforaphane is antiviral to the HCoV-OC43 and SARS-CoV-2 coronaviruses, but at the same time helps control the immune response,” Ordonez says. .. “This multifunctional activity makes it an interesting compound to use against these viral infections, as well as infections caused by other human coronaviruses.”