An In-vitro evaluation of a polyherbal formulation, against SARS-Cov-2

Background: COVID-19, caused by SARS-CoV-2 is one of the major health crisis that has affected the world in the past century. With the emergence of new strains of viruses and antimicrobial resistance, the world is looking for an alternate therapeutic option to fight infectious disease.Objective: The present study evaluated the efficacy of a novel polyherbal formulation, named NOQ19, against SARS-CoV-2 in an in vitro setting. NOQ 19 is an unique blend of 13 Ayurvedic herbs.Methodology: Vero E6 (CL1008), the African green monkey kidney epithelial cell, were infected with SARS-CoV-2 virus (isolate USA-WA1/2020) in a 96 well-plate. NOQ19 test material was diluted in different concentration as follows 0.05mg/ml, 0.1mg/ml, 0.2mg/ml, 0.3mg/ml, 0.4mg/ml, 0.5mg/ml, 0.6mg/ml, 0.7mg/ml, 0.8mg/ml and 0.9mg/ml. These different concentrations of NOQ19 were added to infected cells respectively and incubated for 3 days in 5% CO2 incubator. Remdesivir was used as a positive control.The cells were finally fixed with formaldehyde, stained with crystal violet and plaques were visualized. The number of plaques were counted to determine the PFU(plaque forming units)/mL.Results: Results demonstrated 100% antiviral efficacy of NOQ19 at 0.9mg/ml concentration with complete elimination of the virus. The IC50 of the drug was found to be 0.2mg/ml. The results of the present study demonstrated viral load reduction in SARS- CoV-2 infected Vero E6 cell lines.Conclusion: The result along with clinical trials could propose NOQ19 as a potential therapeutic option in the fighting the COVID-19 challenge.