Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33670363›Full record

ArticleViruses2021

Berberine and Obatoclax Inhibit SARS-Cov-2 Replication in Primary Human Nasal Epithelial Cells In Vitro.

Finny S Varghese, Esther van Woudenbergh, Gijs J Overheul, Marc J Eleveld, Lisa Kurver, Niels van Heerbeek, Arjan van Laarhoven, Pascal Miesen, Gerco den Hartog, Marien I de Jonge and 1 more

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Viruses, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 38 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
38citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
4.2field-weighted citation impact, top 5% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

38 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 77 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  8. Bile acids and coronavirus disease 2019.Acta pharmaceutica Sinica. B · 2024
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  14. A Review ofMolecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023
    Review
  15. Article
  16. Review
  17. Article
  18. Review
  19. Review
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Finny S VargheseDepartment of Medical Microbiology, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Esther van WoudenberghSection Paediatric Infectious Diseases, Laboratory of Medical Immunology, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0001-7363-6649
Gijs J OverheulDepartment of Medical Microbiology, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-8356-8165
Marc J EleveldSection Paediatric Infectious Diseases, Laboratory of Medical Immunology, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0001-7454-018X
Lisa KurverDepartment of Internal Medicine, Radboud University Medical Center, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Niels van HeerbeekDepartment of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Radboudumc, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Arjan van LaarhovenDepartment of Internal Medicine, Radboud University Medical Center, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Pascal MiesenDepartment of Medical Microbiology, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Gerco den HartogCentre for Immunology of Infectious Diseases and Vaccines, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, 3721 MA Bilthoven, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-2103-6315
Marien I de JongeSection Paediatric Infectious Diseases, Laboratory of Medical Immunology, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Ronald P van RijDepartment of Medical Microbiology, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0003-0221-4689
Radboud University Nijmegen · NLNational Institute for Public Health and the Environment · NL

Funding

Human Frontiers Science Program RGP0007/2017Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research 016.VICI.170.090
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) emerged as a new human pathogen in late 2019 and it has infected over 100 million people in less than a year. There is a clear need for effective antiviral drugs to complement current preventive measures, including vaccines. In this study, we demonstrate that berberine and obatoclax, two broad-spectrum antiviral compounds, are effective against multiple isolates of SARS-CoV-2. Berberine, a plant-derived alkaloid, inhibited SARS-CoV-2 at low micromolar concentrations and obatoclax, which was originally developed as an anti-apoptotic protein antagonist, was effective at sub-micromolar concentrations. Time-of-addition studies indicated that berberine acts on the late stage of the viral life cycle. In agreement, berberine mildly affected viral RNA synthesis, but it strongly reduced infectious viral titers, leading to an increase in the particle-to-pfu ratio. In contrast, obatoclax acted at the early stage of the infection, which is in line with its activity to neutralize the acidic environment in endosomes. We assessed infection of primary human nasal epithelial cells that were cultured on an air-liquid interface and found that SARS-CoV-2 infection induced and repressed expression of specific sets of cytokines and chemokines. Moreover, both obatoclax and berberine inhibited SARS-CoV-2 replication in these primary target cells. We propose berberine and obatoclax as potential antiviral drugs against SARS-CoV-2 that could be considered for further efficacy testing.

Indexed as

AdolescentAnimalsAntiviral AgentsBerberineCells, CulturedChlorocebus aethiopsCOVID-19Epithelial CellsHumansIndolesMalePyrrolesRNA, ViralSARS-CoV-2Vero CellsVirus ReplicationAntiviral AgentsBerberineIndolesobatoclaxPyrrolesRNA, Viralantiviral compoundscoronavirusCOVID-19

Identifiers

PMID33670363
PMCPMC7918080
OpenAlexW3126819807

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.