The bacterial extract OM-85 trains innate immune system and decreases betacoronavirus viral load in an in-vivo model

A recently published study in the Journal of Innate Immunity showed that the bacterial extract OM-85 (Broncho-Vaxom®) could protect from betacoronavirus infection in an in-vivo model. 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 research team of P. Hohensinner from the Department of Internal Medicine of the Medical University of Vienna in Austria investigated the effect of OM-85 in stimulating the innate immune system and enhancing lung macrophage recruitment in a murine model infected with the murine adapted coronavirus (MCoV MHV-A59), a virus with similarities to the human SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. Mice were pretreated orally with OM-85 during 10 days before intranasally infected with the murine coronavirus. Mice treated with OM-85 showed an increase in interstitial lung macrophages and interferon activity (IFN) compared to the non-treated control group. Viral load and apoptosis of lung tissue was significantly reduced in the OM-85 pretreated group compared to the control group. The authors conclude that that protective effect of OM-85 is mainly due to the stimulation of the innate immune system by enhancing the recruitment of macrophages and increasing the IFN response. This hypothesis could be verified by applying a blocking antibody to IFN, which again increased the viral load.

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