A novel fermented Yi traditional medicine efficiently suppresses the replication of SARS-CoV-2 in vitro

Currently, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has a worldwide epidemic, causing more than 80 million infections and more than 1.7 million deaths. The pandemic has led to the closure of enterprises and schools in many countries, resulting in serious disruption of the global economy and social activities. Remdesivir is currently approved by the FDA for the treatment of COVID-19, but the WHO declared that Remdesivir is almost ineffective against COVID-19. The research and development of vaccines has made great progress, but it will take at least several months for safe and effective vaccines to be widely used clinically. Clinical studies revealed that some Traditional Chinese Medicines, such as Lianhua Qingwen Capsule and Huoxiang Zhengqi Water, exhibited excellent therapeutic effect on COVID-19. However, until now, there is still no cure for COVID-19. Therefore, there is an urgent need to find medicines that can effectively fight against the SARS-CoV-2. In this study, JIE BEN No. 10 (JB10), a fermentation broth produced by Yi traditional medicine fermentation technology, was explored for its anti-coronavirus activity. The in vitro data showed that JB10 could significantly suppresses the replication of the SARS-CoV-2 with an EC50 of 769.1 times dilution and a selection index of 42.68. Further studies indicated that JB10 had significant anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities. The analysis of active components suggested that JB10 contained a large amount of superoxide dismutase (SOD), flavones, polyphenols, crude polysaccharide, etc. which may explain the anti-coronavirus activity, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. Our study provides a new potentially therapeutic strategy for COVID-19.