Thümmler, L.; Beckmann, N.; Sehl, C.; Soddemann, M.; Braß, P.; Bormann, M.; Brochhagen, L.; Elsner, C.; Hoertel, N.; Cougoule, C.; Ciesek, S.; Widera, M.; Dittmer, U.; Lindemann, M.; Horn, P.A.; Witzke, O.; Kadow, S.; Kamler, M.; Gulbins, E.; Becker, K.A.; Krawczyk, A. Fluoxetine and Sertraline Potently Neutralize the Replication of Distinct SARS-CoV-2 Variants. Viruses2024, 16, 545.
Thümmler, L.; Beckmann, N.; Sehl, C.; Soddemann, M.; Braß, P.; Bormann, M.; Brochhagen, L.; Elsner, C.; Hoertel, N.; Cougoule, C.; Ciesek, S.; Widera, M.; Dittmer, U.; Lindemann, M.; Horn, P.A.; Witzke, O.; Kadow, S.; Kamler, M.; Gulbins, E.; Becker, K.A.; Krawczyk, A. Fluoxetine and Sertraline Potently Neutralize the Replication of Distinct SARS-CoV-2 Variants. Viruses 2024, 16, 545.
Thümmler, L.; Beckmann, N.; Sehl, C.; Soddemann, M.; Braß, P.; Bormann, M.; Brochhagen, L.; Elsner, C.; Hoertel, N.; Cougoule, C.; Ciesek, S.; Widera, M.; Dittmer, U.; Lindemann, M.; Horn, P.A.; Witzke, O.; Kadow, S.; Kamler, M.; Gulbins, E.; Becker, K.A.; Krawczyk, A. Fluoxetine and Sertraline Potently Neutralize the Replication of Distinct SARS-CoV-2 Variants. Viruses2024, 16, 545.
Thümmler, L.; Beckmann, N.; Sehl, C.; Soddemann, M.; Braß, P.; Bormann, M.; Brochhagen, L.; Elsner, C.; Hoertel, N.; Cougoule, C.; Ciesek, S.; Widera, M.; Dittmer, U.; Lindemann, M.; Horn, P.A.; Witzke, O.; Kadow, S.; Kamler, M.; Gulbins, E.; Becker, K.A.; Krawczyk, A. Fluoxetine and Sertraline Potently Neutralize the Replication of Distinct SARS-CoV-2 Variants. Viruses 2024, 16, 545.
Abstract
The pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 is still a major health problem. Newly emerging variants and long-COVID-19 represent a challenge for the global health system. In particular, individuals in developing countries with insufficient health care need easily accessible, affordable and effective treatments of COVID-19. Previous studies have demonstrated the efficacy of functional inhibitors of acid sphingomyelinase (FIASMA) against infections with various viruses, including early variants of SARS-CoV-2. This work investigated whether the acid sphingomyelinase inhibitors fluoxetine and sertraline, usually used as antidepressant molecules in clinical practice, can inhibit the replication of the former and recently emerged SARS-CoV-2 variants in vitro. Fluoxetine and sertraline potently inhibited the infection with pseudotyped virus like particles and SARS-CoV-2 variants D614G, alpha, delta, omicron BA.1 and omicron BA.5. These results highlight fluoxetine and sertraline as priority candidates for large-scale phase 3 clinical trials at different stages of SARS-CoV-2 infections, either alone or in combination with other medications.
Keywords
SARS-CoV-2; antidepressants, COVID-19
Subject
Biology and Life Sciences, Virology
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.