Ann Pharmacol Pharm | Volume 6, Issue 1 | Research Article | Open Access
Norio Ogata* and Takanori Miura
Department of R&D, Taiko Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd, Japan
*Correspondance to: Norio Ogata
Fulltext PDFAim: COVID-19, caused by a new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, remains a serious threat to human health despite the development of several vaccines. Thus, a safe and effective disinfection system is urgently needed to prevent the further spread of COVID-19 cases in crowded and/or poorly ventilated areas. Chlorine dioxide (CD) gas is known to disinfect indoor air in hospital and healthcare settings. The aim of this work was to perform in vitro experiments to investigate whether CD gas could be used to block the capacity of SARS-CoV-2 to bind its receptor protein. Materials and Methods: An assay kit was used to measure binding of the spike protein of SARSCoV- 2 virus to the human receptor protein, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2. We first measured concentration of CD that can dissolve in water. We next performed assays using spike protein that had been exposed to various concentrations of CD gas. Results: CD gas dissolves in water in a concentration- and time-dependent manner to reach near saturation after 30 min. Almost complete inactivation of the spike protein-receptor protein binding was found at about 3 parts per million (ppmv) (volume/volume ratio) of gas with a half- Inhibition concentration (IC50) of 1.2 ppmv after 30 min at 25°C. Conclusion: CD gas can dissolve in water in a concentration- and time-dependent manner, and it can be used as an effective disinfectant against SARS-CoV-2. The mechanism of disinfection involves inhibition of binding of the virus spike protein to human receptor protein in an aqueous phase.
Chlorine dioxide; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; Virus; Disinfection; IC50
Ogata N, Miura T. Effect of Chlorine Dioxide Gas on the Binding of SARSCoV- 2 Coronavirus Spike Protein to a Human Receptor. Ann Pharmacol Pharm. 2021;6(1):1202..