Evaluation of silver nanoparticles to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection: in vitro and in vivo

  

View ORCID ProfileHoracio Almanza-Reyes,  View ORCID ProfileSandra Moreno,  View ORCID ProfileIsmael Plascencia-López,  View ORCID ProfileMartha Alvarado-Vera, Leslie Patrón-Romero,  View ORCID ProfileBelén Borrego,  View ORCID ProfileAlberto Reyes-Escamilla,  View ORCID ProfileDaniel Valencia-Manzo,  View ORCID ProfileAlejandro Brun,  View ORCID ProfileAlexey Pestryakov,  View ORCID ProfileNina Bogdanchikova

doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.05.20.21256197

This article is a preprint and has not been peer-reviewed [what does this mean?]. It reports new medical research that has yet to be evaluated and so should not be used to guide clinical practice.

PDF: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.05.20.21256197v1.full.pdf

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 infection in hospital areas is of a particular concern, since the close interaction between health care personnel and patients diagnosed with COVID-19, which allows virus to be easily spread between them and subsequently to their families and communities. Preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection among healthcare personnel is essential to reduce the frequency of infections and outbreaks during the pandemic considering that they work in high-risk areas. In this research, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were tested in vitro and shown to have an inhibitory effect on SARS-CoV-2 infection in cultured cells. Subsequently, we assess the effects of mouthwash and nose rinse with ARGOVIT® silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), in the prevention of SARS-CoV-2 contagion in health workers consider as high-risk group of acquiring the infection in the General Tijuana Hospital, Mexico, a hospital for the exclusive recruitment of patients diagnosed with COVID-19. We present a prospective randomized study of 231 participants that was carried out for 9 weeks (during the declaration of a pandemic). The “experimental” group was instructed to do mouthwash and nose rinse with the AgNPs solution; the “control” group was instructed to do mouthwashes and nose rinse in a conventional way. The incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection was significantly lower in the “experimental” group (two participants of 114, 1.8%) compared to the “control” group (thirty-three participants of 117, 28.2%), with a 84.8% efficiency. We conclude that the mouth and nasal rinse with AgNPs helps in the prevention of SARS-CoV-2 infection in health personnel who are exposed to patients diagnosed with COVID-19.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Clinical Trial

NCT04894409

Funding Statement

A. Pestryakov Project VIU-RSCBMT-197/2020 Tomsk Polytechnic University https://tpu.ru/en The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.05.20.21256197v1