The Mechanisms of Zinc Action as a Potent Anti-Viral Agent: The Clinical Therapeutic Implication in COVID-19

doi:10.3390/antiox11101862

Review

. 2022 Sep 21;11(10):1862.

doi: 10.3390/antiox11101862.

The Mechanisms of Zinc Action as a Potent Anti-Viral Agent: The Clinical Therapeutic Implication in COVID-19

Ananda S Prasad¹, Agnes Malysa¹, Gerold Bepler¹, Andrew Fribley¹, Bin Bao¹

Affiliations

PMID: 36290585
PMCID: PMC9598180
DOI: 10.3390/antiox11101862

Review

The Mechanisms of Zinc Action as a Potent Anti-Viral Agent: The Clinical Therapeutic Implication in COVID-19

Ananda S Prasad et al. Antioxidants (Basel). 2022.

. 2022 Sep 21;11(10):1862.

doi: 10.3390/antiox11101862.

Authors

Ananda S Prasad¹, Agnes Malysa¹, Gerold Bepler¹, Andrew Fribley¹, Bin Bao¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Oncology, Karmanos Cancer Institute, Wayne State University, 4100 John R Street, Detroit, MI 48201, USA.

PMID: 36290585
PMCID: PMC9598180
DOI: 10.3390/antiox11101862

Abstract

The pandemic of COVID-19 was caused by a novel coronavirus termed as SARS-CoV2 and is still ongoing with high morbidity and mortality rates in the whole world. The pathogenesis of COVID-19 is highly linked with over-active immune and inflammatory responses, leading to activated cytokine storm, which contribute to ARDS with worsen outcome. Currently, there is no effective therapeutic drug for the treatment of COVID-19. Zinc is known to act as an immune modulator, which plays an important role in immune defense system. Recently, zinc has been widely considered as an anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant agent. Accumulating numbers of studies have revealed that zinc plays an important role in antiviral immunity in several viral infections. Several early clinical trials clearly indicate that zinc treatment remarkably decreased the severity of the upper respiratory infection of rhinovirus in humans. Currently, zinc has been used for the therapeutic intervention of COVID-19 in many different clinical trials. Several clinical studies reveal that zinc treatment using a combination of HCQ and zinc pronouncedly reduced symptom score and the rates of hospital admission and mortality in COVID-19 patients. These data support that zinc might act as an anti-viral agent in the addition to its anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties for the adjuvant therapeutic intervention of COVID-19.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV2; anti-viral activity; cytokines; immunity; inflammation; zinc.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

**Figure 1**
The putative mechanism of zinc action as an anti-viral agent in COVID-19.

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[1] Ortiz-Prado E., Simbaña-Rivera K., Barreno L., Rubio-Neira M., Guaman L.P., Kyriakidis N.C., Muslin C., Jaramillo A.M.G., Barba-Ostria C., Cevallos-Robalino D., et al. Clinical, molecular, and epidemiological characterization of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), a comprehensive literature review. Diagn. Microbiol. Infect. Dis. 2020;98:115094. doi: 10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2020.115094. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[2] Ortiz-Prado E., Simbaña-Rivera K., Barreno L., Rubio-Neira M., Guaman L.P., Kyriakidis N.C., Muslin C., Jaramillo A.M.G., Barba-Ostria C., Cevallos-Robalino D., et al. Clinical, molecular, and epidemiological characterization of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), a comprehensive literature review. Diagn. Microbiol. Infect. Dis. 2020;98:115094. doi: 10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2020.115094. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[3] Zhu N., Zhang D., Wang W., Li X., Yang B., Song J., Zhao X., Huang B., Shi W., Lu R., et al. A Novel Coronavirus from Patients with Pneumonia in China, 2019. N. Engl. J. Med. 2020;382:727–733. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2001017. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[4] Zhu N., Zhang D., Wang W., Li X., Yang B., Song J., Zhao X., Huang B., Shi W., Lu R., et al. A Novel Coronavirus from Patients with Pneumonia in China, 2019. N. Engl. J. Med. 2020;382:727–733. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2001017. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[5] Wu F., Zhao S., Yu B., Chen Y.M., Wang W., Song Z.G., Hu Y., Tao Z.W., Tian J.H., Pei Y.Y., et al. A new coronavirus associated with human respiratory disease in China. Nature. 2020;579:265–269. doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2008-3. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[6] Wu F., Zhao S., Yu B., Chen Y.M., Wang W., Song Z.G., Hu Y., Tao Z.W., Tian J.H., Pei Y.Y., et al. A new coronavirus associated with human respiratory disease in China. Nature. 2020;579:265–269. doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2008-3. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[7] Zhou P., Yang X.L., Wang X.G., Hu B., Zhang L., Zhang W., Si H.R., Zhu Y., Li B., Huang C.L., et al. A pneumonia outbreak associated with a new coronavirus of probable bat origin. Nature. 2020;579:270–273. doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2012-7. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[8] Zhou P., Yang X.L., Wang X.G., Hu B., Zhang L., Zhang W., Si H.R., Zhu Y., Li B., Huang C.L., et al. A pneumonia outbreak associated with a new coronavirus of probable bat origin. Nature. 2020;579:270–273. doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2012-7. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[9] Li Q., Guan X., Wu P., Wang X., Zhou L., Tong Y., Ren R., Leung K.S.M., Lau E.H.Y., Wong J.Y., et al. Early Transmission Dynamics in Wuhan, China, of Novel Coronavirus-Infected Pneumonia. N. Engl. J. Med. 2020;382:1199–1207. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2001316. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[10] Li Q., Guan X., Wu P., Wang X., Zhou L., Tong Y., Ren R., Leung K.S.M., Lau E.H.Y., Wong J.Y., et al. Early Transmission Dynamics in Wuhan, China, of Novel Coronavirus-Infected Pneumonia. N. Engl. J. Med. 2020;382:1199–1207. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2001316. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

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The Mechanisms of Zinc Action as a Potent Anti-Viral Agent: The Clinical Therapeutic Implication in COVID-19

Affiliation

The Mechanisms of Zinc Action as a Potent Anti-Viral Agent: The Clinical Therapeutic Implication in COVID-19

Authors

Affiliation

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

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References

Publication types

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

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