BREAKING! Latest German Study Reinforces Past Research Showing Iota-Carrageenan Ability To Inhibit Replication Of All SARS-CoV-2 VOCs.

COVID-19 Prophylactics-Therapeutics: Scientist from Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg-Germany, Ulm University Medical Center-Germany, University Hospital Tübingen-Germany and Marinomed Biotech AG-Austria have in a new study found that the safe and non-toxic natural compound iota-carrageenan has the ability to inhibit replication of all existing SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern or VOCs. The latest study findings reinforce numerous previous research showing the ability of iota-carrageenan as an antiviral against various viruses including the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.


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The study team investigated the antiviral effect of iota-, lambda- and kappa-carrageenan, sulfated polysaccharides extracted from red seaweed, on SARS-CoV-2 Wuhan type and the spreading variants of concern (VOCs) Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta. Carrageenans as part of broadly used nasal and mouth sprays as well as lozenges have the potential of first line defense to inhibit the infection and transmission of SARS-CoV-2.
 
The study team demonstrate by using a SARS-CoV-2 spike pseudotyped lentivirus particles (SSPL) system and patient-isolated SARS-CoV-2 VOCs to infect transgenic A549ACE2/TMPRSS2 and Calu-3 human lung cells that all three carrageenan types exert antiviral activity. Iota-carrageenan exhibits antiviral activity with comparable IC50 values against the SARS-CoV-2 Wuhan type and the VOCs.
 
The study findings indicate that iota-carrageenan might be effective for prophylaxis and treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infections independent of the present and potentially future variants.
 
The study findings were published in the peer reviewed International Journal of Molecular Sciences. https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/22/24/13202
 
Thailand Medical News had already covered about the use of iota-carrageenan as both a prophylactic and therapeutic antiviral compound as early as August 2020. https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/covid-19-research-american-led-study-shows-that-nasal-sprays-with-xylitol-and-iota-carrageenan-might-help-protect-against-covid-19
 
Since then numerous other studies have also demonstrated its use against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/study-shows-pot ential-of-combining-iota-carrageenan-and-xylitol-as-a-potential-prophylactic-nasal-spray-for-covid-19
 
The current ongoing COVID-19 crisis has to date infected more than 271 million people globally of which more than 40 percent are expected to suffer long COVID or PASC (Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19) medical issues for years and many more to develop more serious medical conditions including cancer in coming years. https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/breaking-new-international-study-warns-that-sars-cov-2-infections-will-lead-to-cancers-especially-colorectal-cancers-due-to-disruption-in-autophagy
 
The ongoing pandemic has also caused more than 5.4 million deaths according to official sources while in reality the actual figure could be many fold.
 
Although several COVID-19 vaccines have received emergency use authorization (EUA) from global regulatory boards, which was quickly followed by the commencement of vaccination programs in many countries, the vaccines are showing waning protection and the emergence of immune evasive variants are complicating matters.
 
The various approved monoclonal and polyclonal antibody therapeutics are also facing problems with the new immune evasive variants and are also thought to be driving the virus to even mutate more to escape these therapeutics.
 
To date there are no known effective antivirals. Remdesivir was discovered to be an elaborate American scam and the much touted Merck’s Molnupiravir is now becoming a pariah after new data showed that its lacks the initially bragged efficacy and worse, it could actually cause more genetic adverse effects for both the human patients and the virus! https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-03667-0
 
Typically, SARS-CoV-2 infection occurs when the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the glycosylated spike protein binds to the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (hACE2) receptor. Post binding, the S2 domain of the spike protein initiates membrane fusion, thus allowing the virus genome to enter the host cell.

Most respiratory viruses like SARS-CoV-2 infect the host predominantly through the nasopharyngeal cavity. Virions are transmitted among individuals through respiratory droplets, aerosols, or indirectly from contaminated surfaces.
 
Ever since the beginning of the pandemic, SARS-CoV-2 has evolved due to mutations that have led to the emergence of several different variants. These variants have been classified as variants of interest (VOI) and variants of concern (VOC).
 
All the SARS-CoV-2 VOCs have been characterized as more virulent and transmissible as compared to the original strain and can evade the immune response induced via natural infection or COVID-19 vaccination.
 
Importantly as all available SARS-CoV-2 vaccines have been designed based on the original strain, scientists are skeptical of their efficacy against the SARS-CoV-2 variants. Some of the SARS-CoV-2 VOCs include Alpha (B.1.1.7), Beta (B.1.351), Gamma (P.1), Delta (B.1.617.2), and Omicron (B.1.1.529) variants that have significantly increased the number of COVID-19 cases worldwide.
 
Scientist are also concerned about the concept of ‘original antigenic sin’ and also about ADE and viral priming issues as more of these variants emerge and spread.
 
Physicians, researchers, scientists and health authorities have indicated the urgent need to develop novel COVID-19 therapeutics that would be effective against a broad spectrum of SARS-CoV-2 strains.
 
Past COVID-19 Prophylactics-Therapeutics studies have shown the efficacy of natural substances against a variety of viruses. In the current scenario, scientists have explored the effectiveness of natural substances against SARS-CoV-2.
 
Interestingly among these natural compounds, carrageenan is a popular compound that is used in the food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical industries.

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Carrageenan is a high molecular weight sulfated polymer that is obtained from red seaweed (Rhodophyceae) and has been considered to be safe by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The commercially used forms of carrageenan are iota, kappa, and lambda, which vary from each other in their degree of sulfation, solubility, and gelling properties.


Effect of iota-, kappa- and lambda-carrageenan on SARS-CoV-2 spike driven entry. (A) Luciferase activity following infection of ACE2-HEK293 with SSPL particles normalized to untreated infected cells which served as positive control (100% infection control; y-axis). 100, 30, 10, 3, 1, 0.3 µg/mL iota-carrageenan, 100 and 10 µg/mL kappa- and lambda-carrageenan, and 100 µg/mL non-sulfated polymers (hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (HPMC), carboxymethylcellulose (CMC)) were incubated with the SSPL for 30 min before infection. The efficiency of infection in cell lysates was determined by measuring the luciferase activity 48 h post infection. (B) Determination of IC50 values using Excel XLfit version 5.5.0.5. The data represent means of quadruplicates ± standard deviation (* p < 0.5, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001, **** p < 0.0001 using a one sample t test, where each value is compared to the untreated control). Abbr.: iota-carrageenan, kappa-carrageenan, lambda-carrageenan, CMC and HPMC.
 
The compound is extremely cheap and easily available globally.
 
Numerous past studies have demonstrated the antiviral activity of iota-carrageenan against a variety of respiratory viruses. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18817582/
 
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21179403/
 
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5339006/
 
A recent study has shown that this compound is capable of inhibiting SARS-CoV-2 replication in various cell lines and human airway epithelial cultures. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0237480
 
Significantly, the use of iota-carrageenan as a nasal spray was found to be effective and safe in placebo-controlled clinical trials. This study included more than 600 children and adults suffering from a respiratory viral infection, wherein the iota-carrageenan treatment showed a decrease in the viral load, as well as a reduction in the duration and severity of symptoms.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/1472-6882-12-147
 
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/2049-6958-9-57
 
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/1465-9921-14-124
 
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26438038/
 
Another study reported that an iota-carrageenan-containing nasal spray possessed prophylactic efficacy in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection among healthcare workers who cared for COVID-19 patients. This study reported a relative risk reduction of 79.8%. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8493111/
 
There are currently clinical trials on COVID-19 cases running in the UK and in Austria investigating the prophylactic and therapeutic effect of iota-carrageenan as inhalant. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/results/NCT04590365?view=results
 
https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04681001
 
https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04793984?term=Iota-Carrageenan&cond=COVID-19&draw=2
 
The German study team recently reported the efficacy of carrageenan against both the SARS-CoV-2 original strain as well as the Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta VOCs with comparable IC50 values.
 
Importantly among all forms of carrageenan, the study team reported that iota is most effective against the aforementioned strains.
 
The study findings revealed that the IC50 values varied based on the form of infection and cell lines used. The values ranged between 1.4–5 µg/mL iota-carrageenan in a SARS-CoV-2 spike pseudotyped lentivirus particles (SSPL) system to 2.1–10.3 µg/mL in A549-ACE2/TMPRSS2 cells, and 0.04–0.15 µg/mL in Calu-3 human lung cells infected with the SARS-CoV-2 variants.
 
The study findings strongly indicated that iota-carrageenan exhibited the best result among all other forms of carrageenan, including a 10-fold higher efficacy than lambda and kappa.
 
It should be noted that as natural compounds have better toxicological profiles, they have lesser side effects and a faster admission process as compared to chemically designed compounds. Another advantage of these compounds is that they exhibit a broader antiviral spectrum as compared to small molecule inhibitors of viral factors or highly specific monoclonal antibodies.
 
Interestingly a previous study reported the synergistic antiviral activity of a combination of carrageenan with lectin Griffithsin against SARS-CoV-2 pseudoviruses. https://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/19/8/418
 
Numerous past studies have also shown that carrageenan possesses antitumor, immunomodulatory, and coagulative activities. (please refer to Goggle Scholar)
 
The study findings of this current research reveal that iota-carrageenan can non-specifically envelop viruses and prevent interaction between the virus and cellular surface. The negatively charged iota-carrageenan molecules attract and trap the virus and sterically prevent infection of adjacent epithelial cells. The trapped viruses are finally eliminated by mucociliary clearance.
 
Thailand Medical News strongly advocates that more researchers focus on developing more prophylactics and therapeutics fast based on iota-carrageenan as it is cheap and easily available. Thailand Medical News itself has developed a range of products incorporating the compound and using it along with our own arsenal of COVID-19 supplements, herbs and repurposed drugs and to date, it has proven to be highly effective.
 
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