Carbon-Based Nanomaterials: Promising Antiviral Agents to Combat COVID-19 in the Microbial-Resistant Era.

Abstract

Therapeutic options for the highly pathogenic human severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causing the current pandemic coronavirus disease (COVID-19) are urgently needed. COVID-19 is associated with viral pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome causing significant morbidity and mortality. The proposed treatments for COVID-19 have shown little or no effect in the clinic so far. Additionally, bacterial and fungal pathogens contribute to the SARS-CoV-2-mediated pneumonia disease complex. The antibiotic resistance in pneumonia treatment is increasing at an alarming rate. Therefore, carbon-based nanomaterials (CBNs), such as fullerene, carbon dots, graphene, and their derivatives constitute a promising alternative due to their wide-spectrum antimicrobial activity, biocompatibility, biodegradability, and capacity to induce tissue regeneration. Furthermore, the antimicrobial mode of action is mainly physical (e.g., membrane distortion), characterized by a low risk of antimicrobial resistance. In this Review, we evaluated the literature on the antiviral activity and broad-spectrum antimicrobial properties of CBNs. CBNs had antiviral activity against 13 enveloped positive-sense single-stranded RNA viruses, including SARS-CoV-2. CBNs with low or no toxicity to humans are promising therapeutics against the COVID-19 pneumonia complex with other viruses, bacteria, and fungi, including those that are multidrug-resistant.

• Authors: Ángel Serrano-Aroca, Kazuo Takayama, Alberto Tuñón-Molina, Murat Seyran, Sk Sarif Hassan, Pabitra Pal Choudhury, Vladimir N Uversky, Kenneth Lundstrom, Parise Adadi, Giorgio Palù, Alaa A A Aljabali, Gaurav Chauhan, Ramesh Kandimalla, Murtaza M Tambuwala, Amos Lal, Tarek Mohamed Abd El-Aziz, Samendra Sherchan, Debmalya Barh, Elrashdy M Redwan, Nicolas G Bazan, Yogendra Kumar Mishra, Bruce D Uhal, Adam Brufsky
• Journal: ACS nano (ACS Nano) Vol. 15 Issue 5 Pg. 8069-8086 (05 25 2021) ISSN: 1936-086X [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 33826850 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Review)

Chemical References

• Antiviral Agents
• Carbon

Topics

• Antiviral Agents (pharmacology, therapeutic use)
• COVID-19
• Carbon
• Humans
• Pneumonia, Viral (drug therapy)
• SARS-CoV-2