The bacterial extract OM-85 is decreasing in vitro SARS-CoV-2 viral infection in epithelial cells

OM-85 (Broncho-Vaxom®), a bacterial extract could decrease SARS-CoV-2 infection as researchers from the Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson found out in a published in-vitro study in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. OM-85 is a bacterial lysate consisting mainly of cell membrane components obtained from eight different bacteria genera. It activates the innate immune system through different pathways and is registered for the prevention of recurrent respiratory tract infections. The COVID-19 coronavirus attaches to epithelial cells by the interaction of the viral spike protein (S-protein) with the angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor and other components of the epithelial cell membrane like the transmembrane protease serine subtype 2 (TMPRSS2). Dr. Donata Vercelli and colleagues treated epithelial cell lines of different origins (human bronchial epithelial cells, kidney, intestinal) with OM-85 before exposing them to a SARS-CoV-2 S-protein pseudotyped lentivirus, thus mimicking a COVID-19 coronavirus infection. The research team could show that the bacterial lysate is downregulating the expression of ACE2 receptor and TMPRSS2, which resulted in a decreased cell entry of the S protein-pseudotyped lentivirus in the investigated cells. As a next step, it was demonstrated that these mechanisms result in a direct reduction of the infection of the cells by SARS-CoV-2.   OM-85 strongly inhibits the binding of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein to epithelial cells, resulting in a decreased SARS-CoV-2 infection in-vitro in the tested cell lines. Further studies of its effect against COVID-19 in humans are needed.

The release as fetched from its publisher. ompharma.com ↗