Pharmacological Activities of Fingerroot Extract and Its Phytoconstituents Against SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Golden Syrian Hamsters

BACKGROUND: The outbreak of COVID-19 has led to the suffering of people around the world, with an inaccessibility of specific and effective medication. Fingerroot extract, which showed in vitro anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity, could alleviate the deficiency of antivirals and reduce the burden of health systems. AIM OF STUDY: In this study, we conducted an experiment in SARS-CoV-2-infected hamsters to determine the efficacy of fingerroot extract in vivo. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The infected hamsters were orally administered with vehicle control, fingerroot extract 300 or 1000 mg/kg, or favipiravir 1000 mg/kg at 48 h post-infection for 7 consecutive days. The hamsters (n = 12 each group) were sacrificed at day 2, 4 and 8 post-infection to collect the plasma and lung tissues for analyses of viral output, lung histology and lung concentration of panduratin A. RESULTS: All animals in treatment groups reported no death, while one hamster in the control group died on day 3 post-infection. All treatments significantly reduced lung pathophysiology and inflammatory mediators, PGE(2) and IL-6, compared to the control group. High levels of panduratin A were found in both the plasma and lung of infected animals. CONCLUSION: Fingerroot extract was shown to be a potential of reducing lung inflammation and cytokines in hamsters. Further studies of the full pharmacokinetics and toxicity are required before entering into clinical development.