Banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO: LEA ISIS MARTINS GOMES

Uma banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO de MESTRADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : LEA ISIS MARTINS GOMES
DATE: 10/03/2023
TIME: 14:00
LOCAL: Virtual
TITLE:

Evaluation of the antiviral effect of zinc in an infection model
SARS-CoV-2 in vitro.

KEY WORDS:

Zinc; SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; oxidative stress; antiviral.

PAGES: 30
BIG AREA: Ciências Biológicas
AREA: Parasitologia
SUMMARY:

Infection with SARS-CoV-2 can triggers an exacerbated inflammatory
response, characterized by excessive activity of the immune system in an attempt to
protect the organism from the pathogen. Upon recognition of viral particles, a very
aggressive immune response is triggered, which may cause immunopathologies
mediated by the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines, in addition to cytopathic events
in infected cells. Zinc (Zn) is an essential micronutrient, which plays physiological roles
in cellular processes, from immune response, signal transduction, organelle homeostasis
to cell proliferation, and is already well known for its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory,
immunomodulatory and antiviral activities. Some studies relate the role of Zn in
antiviral immunity, linking the discussion of its potential against COVID-19 and 

ongoing clinical trials. For example, Zn is involved in many cellular processes and has a
variety of direct and indirect antiviral properties. Zn deficiency has been shown to be
associated with reduced antibody production, impaired innate immune system function
(e.g., low natural killer cell activity), decreased cytokine production by monocytes, and
chemotaxis and oxidative burst of neutrophil granulocytes. However, there is still little
information in the literature about the real antiviral effect of Zn in models of SARS-
CoV-2 viral infection. From this, the objective of this study was to evaluate the role of
oxidative stress in pulmonary epithelial cell lines infected by SARS-Cov-2 and the
antiviral action of zinc, as well as to analyze the therapeutic potential of Zn in infected
cells, in addition to characterizing the infection in cells of Calu-3 lineages by SARS-
CoV-2. For this, an invitro assay was performed, in which Calu-3 cells were infected
with SARS-CoV-2 and treated with different concentrations of Zinc and Cobalt, and
supernatant and cells were collected for evaluation of inflammatory parameters, cell
viability and stress oxidative. These include cytotoxicity assay, LDH dosage, cytokine
dosage, oxidative stress dosage through flow cytometry and quantification of viral load
by plaque assay (PFU). Our data show that Zn was able to inhibit viral replication in
Calu-3, in addition to having an anti-inflammatory effect by decreasing the production
of IL-6 and TNF-, decreasing oxidative stress, in addition to decreasing the profile of
cell death. These data suggest that Zn has potential effect as an adjuvant therapy by
providing protection by decreasing lung inflammation in human pneumocytes cells.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Presidente - 1801992 - PAULA RENATA LIMA MACHADO
Externa ao Programa - 350753 - VALERIA SORAYA DE FARIAS SALES - UFRNExterno à Instituição - KLEBER JUVENAL SILVA FARIAS