Biosurfactants’ Potential Role in Combating COVID-19 and Similar Future Microbial Threats

Abstract

During 2020, the world has experienced extreme vulnerability in the face of a disease outbreak. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic discovered in China and rapidly spread across the globe, infecting millions, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths, and severe downturns in the economies of countries worldwide. Biosurfactants can play a significant role in the prevention, control and treatment of diseases caused by these pathogenic agents through various therapeutic, pharmaceutical, environmental and hygiene approaches. Biosurfactants have the potential to inhibit microbial species with virulent intrinsic characteristics capable of developing diseases with high morbidity and mortality, as well as interrupting their spread through environmental and hygiene interventions. This is possible due to their antimicrobial activity, ability to interact with cells forming micelles and to interact with the immune system, and compatibility with relevant processes such as nanoparticle synthesis. They, therefore, can be applied in developing innovative and more effective pharmaceutical, therapeutics, sustainable and friendly environmental management approaches, less toxic formulations, and more efficient cleaning agents. These approaches can be easily integrated into relevant product development pipelines and implemented as measures for combating and managing pandemics. This review examines the potential approaches of biosurfactants as useful molecules in fighting microbial pathogens both known and previously unknown, such as COVID-19.

Surfactants – Compounds for inactivation of SARS-CoV-2 and other enveloped viruses

“…Interestingly, rather mild surfactants like rhamnolipids have also been reported to have marked antiviral activity, e. g., against Herpes Simplex Viruses (HSV), where, as an example, rhamnolipid PS-17 has been shown to be very effective with IC 50 values of ∼25 μM and a Δlog 10 CCID 50 of 1.84-2.0 at ∼35 μM [ 142 ]. The potential of biosurfactants in the fight against COVID-19 has been reviewed very recently, including options for using them as delivery agents [ 144 ]. Rhamnolipids are particularly attractive as they are very mild surfactants that are increasingly employed in cosmetic and personal care formulations, but also have substantial antimicrobial properties [ 153 , 154 ].…”

Nanotechnology-Based Antimicrobial and Antiviral Surface Coating Strategies

“…They are promising candidates to control spreading of viral pathogens by environmental, pharmaceutical, sterilization processes. For example, biosurfactants could be used as spray formulations for the sterilization of surfaces, or biosurfactant-based nanoparticle assisted systems can be used for laboratory diagnostics [117]. Biosurfactants can also be used to inhibit or reduce bacterial attachment and prevent biofilm formation.…”

Nanoemulsions: Formulation, characterization, biological fate, and potential role against COVID-19 and other viral outbreaks

“…Biosurfactants have been widely applied in medicine against cancer, microbes, inflammation, immune disorders, and viruses [ [69] , [70] , [71] ]. Çelik et al has summarized the potential strategies for using biosurfactants as therapeutic, environmental, and industrial tools to fight future viral outbreaks [ 72 ]. For example, peptide- and lipopeptide-based biosurfactants can interfere with viral life cycles; hence, these compounds are suitable for developing vaccines capable of inducing cytotoxic T-cell responses against viruses [ 73 , 74 ].…”