ArticleBritish journal of pharmacology2021
Unfractionated heparin inhibits live wild type SARS-CoV-2 cell infectivity at therapeutically relevant concentrations.
Article in British journal of pharmacology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 68 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
68 citing papers in PubMed, 96 citations in OpenAlex.
- Nebulized enriched heparin improves respiratory parameters in patients with COVID-19: a phase I/II randomized and triple-blind clinical trial.Scientific reports · 2024Trial
- Review
- Fully Synthetic Non-Carbohydrate Heparin Mimetics-Perspectives for Therapeutic Anticoagulation and Beyond?Archiv der Pharmazie · 2026Review
- Non-anticoagulant heparins: glycan-mediated immune modulation and therapeutic applications.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Precision-Engineered Dermatan Sulfate-Mimetic Glycopolymers for Multi-Targeted SARS-CoV-2 Inhibition.Marine drugs · 2025Article
- Heparin Provides Antiviral Activity Against Rhinovirus-16 via an Heparan Sulfate Proteoglycan-Independent Mechanism.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Efficacy of inhaled nebulised unfractionated heparin to prevent intubation or death in hospitalised patients with COVID-19: an investigator-initiated international meta-trial of randomised clinical studies.EClinicalMedicine · 2025Article
- Disrupting SARS-CoV-2 Spike-ACE2 Interactions via Glycosaminoglycans in a Pseudoviral Study of Heparan Sulfate and Enoxaparin.Biomolecules · 2025Article
- Antiviral activity of natural and modified hydrocolloids: main sources, susceptible viruses, structure-activity relationship and mechanisms of action.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Review
- The accomplices: Heparan sulfates and N-glycans foster SARS-CoV-2 spike:ACE2 receptor binding and virus priming.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- Taming the storm: potential anti-inflammatory compounds targeting SARS-CoV-2 MPro.Inflammopharmacology · 2024Review
- Time in Therapeutic Range of Unfractionated Heparin-Based Therapy in Critically Ill Patients with COVID-19 Pneumonia.Therapeutics and clinical risk management · 2024Article
- Non-Anticoagulant Activities of Low Molecular Weight Heparins-A Review.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Increased Thrombotic Risk in COVID-19: Evidence and Controversy.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Article
- Heparin, Low Molecular Weight Heparin, and Non-Anticoagulant Derivatives for the Treatment of Inflammatory Lung Disease.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Heparin, Heparan Sulphate and Sepsis: Potential New Options for Treatment.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Non-anticoagulant heparin derivatives for COVID-19 treatment.International journal of biological macromolecules · 2023Review
- Pediatric adenovirus pneumonia: clinical practice and current treatment.Frontiers in medicine · 2023Review
- The diverse role of heparan sulfate and other GAGs in SARS-CoV-2 infections and therapeutics.Carbohydrate polymers · 2023Review
- Respiratory viruses interacting with cells: the importance of electrostatics.Frontiers in microbiology · 2023Review
8 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
20 authors at 10 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
background and purposeCurrently, there are no licensed vaccines and limited antivirals for the treatment of COVID-19. Heparin (delivered systemically) is currently used to treat anticoagulant anomalies in COVID-19 patients. Additionally, in the United Kingdom, Brazil and Australia, nebulised unfractionated heparin (UFH) is being trialled in COVID-19 patients as a potential treatment. A systematic comparison of the potential antiviral effect of various heparin preparations on live wild type SARS-CoV-2, in vitro, is needed. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: Seven different heparin preparations including UFH and low MW heparins (LMWH) of porcine or bovine origin were screened for antiviral activity against live SARS-CoV-2 (Australia/VIC01/2020) using a plaque inhibition assay with Vero E6 cells. Interaction of heparin with spike protein RBD was studied using differential scanning fluorimetry and the inhibition of RBD binding to human ACE2 protein using elisa assays was examined. KEY
resultsAll the UFH preparations had potent antiviral effects, with IC CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS: This comparison of clinically relevant heparins shows that UFH has significantly stronger SARS-CoV-2 antiviral activity compared to LMWHs. UFH acts to directly inhibit binding of spike protein to the human ACE2 protein receptor. Overall, the data strongly support further clinical investigation of UFH as a potential treatment for patients with COVID-19.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.