Author(s): Jon Sin, Thanh X Hoang, Anh K Nguyen, Hong-An Tran, Ferre Akbarpour, Bo Han and Ba X Hoang

Abstract: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a novel strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 disease. The World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control report still rank COVID-19 among the top 10 causes of death in the US (as of 2023). For this reason, research is ongoing to identify additional therapeutic strategies to limit SARS-CoV-2 infections. SARS-CoV-2 binds to the cell surface angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE2) via the viral spike protein to enter host cells. Our current study investigated vitro binding assays to test the effects of the fig-extract and colloidal silver composition, Nowarta110, on the spike-ACE2 interaction. Following the manufacturer's protocol, we performed the RayBio COVID-19 Spike-ACE2 Binding Assay Kit (RayBiotech; CoV-ACE2S2-1). We found that Nowarta110 significantly reduces the binding of the spike proteins to ACE2, thereby limiting the infectivity of COVID-19. Thus, further investigation of Nowarta110's potential antiviral efficacy against SARS-CoV-2 infection would be valuable.

DOI: 10.22271/flora.2025.v13.i6a.1050