Nanoceria Can Inhibit the Reproduction of Transmissible Gastroenteritis Virus: Consideration for Use to Prevent and Treat Coronavirus Disease

Nanoceria (cerium dioxide nanoparticles, CeO2 ) has a broad range of biological properties including antiviral activity. The hypothesis was that nanoceria can efficacy against coronavirus (coronavirus of porcine transmissible gastroenteritis) and potentially can target SARS-CoV-2. Transmissible gastroenteritis coronavirus (TGEV) is the etiologic agent of porcine transmissible gastroenteritis (PTG), a highly contagious pig intestinal disease. The aim of the study was to determine the antiviral activity of CeO2 nanoparticles on the model of porcine coronavirus – TGEV. Methods. We used a highly pathogenic virus strain D52-5 (BRE79 ), of TGEV. We evaluated antiviral activity of CeO2 nanoparticles on the experimental model of porcine coronavirus (transmissible gastroenteritis virus) in transplantable line of porcine embryonic kidney cells (PEK) culture. Results. The criterion for evaluating the inhibitory activity of antiviral drugs in different in vitro systems is the selectivity index (SI) and the reduction of infectious titer by 1.5–2.0 lgTCD50 . Nanoceria effectively inhibited the reproduction of porcine coronavirus with SI index of 83.3. © 2021, Zabolotny Institute of Microbiology and Virology, NAS of Ukraine. All rights reserved.