Inactivation of Human Norovirus Surrogates by Benzalkonium Chloride, Potassium Peroxymonosulfate, Tannic Acid, and Gallic Acid

Abstract

Novel methods to effectively disinfect contact surfaces and prevent human norovirus transmission are essential. The effect of benzalkonium chloride (BAC), potassium peroxymonosulfate (KPMS), tannic acid (TA), and gallic acid (GA) on enteric virus surrogates, murine norovirus (MNV-1), feline calicivirus (FCV-F9), and bacteriophage MS2 was studied. Viruses at high (∼7 log₁₀ PFU/mL) or low (∼5 log₁₀ PFU/mL) titers were mixed with equal volumes of BAC (0.2, 0.5, and 1 mg/mL), KPMS (5, 10, and 20 mg/mL), TA (0.02 and 0.2 mg/mL), GA (0.2, 0.4, and 0.8 mg/mL), or water and incubated for 2 h at room temperature. Viral infectivity after triplicate treatments was evaluated using plaque assays in duplicate. Low titers of FCV-F9 and MNV-1 were completely reduced, while low-titer MS2 was reduced by 1.7-1.8 log₁₀ PFU/mL with BAC at all three concentrations. High-titer FCV-F9 was reduced by 2.87, 3.08, and 3.25 log₁₀ PFU/mL, and high-titer MNV-1 was reduced by 1.55, 2.32, and 2.75 log₁₀ PFU/mL with BAC at 0.1, 0.25, and 0.5 mg/mL, respectively. High-titer MS2 was reduced by ∼2 log₁₀ PFU/mL with BAC at all three concentrations. KPMS at all three concentrations reduced high and low titers of FCV-F9 and MS2 and low-titer MNV-1 to undetectable levels, while high-titer MNV-1 was reduced by 0.92 and 3.44 log₁₀ PFU/mL with KMPS at 2.5 and 5 mg/mL, respectively. TA at 0.2 mg/mL only reduced high-titer FCV-F9 by 0.98 log₁₀ PFU/mL and low-titer FCV-F9 by 1.95 log₁₀ PFU/mL. GA at 0.1, 0.2, and 0.4 mg/mL reduced low-titer FCV-F9 by 2.50, 2.36, and 0.86 log₁₀ PFU/mL, respectively with negligible effects against high-titer FCV-F9. BAC and KPMS show promise to be used as broad-spectrum contact surface disinfectants for prevention of noroviral surrogate contamination.

Antiviral effect of theaflavins against caliciviruses

“…Four theaflavins (TF1, 2A, 2B and 3) and their mixtures showed more potent antiviral activity than tannic acid, which has been reported as an anti-FCV agent. 28 The anti-FCV activities of the theaflavins increased proportionally with the exposure time and concentration. In this study, all of the assays were performed under the conditions of FBS-free medium.…”

“…Tannic acid, reported to have antiviral activity against the FCV strain F-9, was used as a positive control. 28 The virus titers were determined by the TCID 50 assay. Theaflavins reduced FCV strain F-9 virus infectivity from 6.2 to 3.9 (log 10 TCID 50 ml − 1 ) units (Table 2, entries 3 and 4 compared with entry 1).…”

Comparative Virucidal Efficacy of Seven Disinfectants Against Murine Norovirus and Feline Calicivirus, Surrogates of Human Norovirus

“…Previously published results may be controversial, reporting a significant effect either on MNV or FCV infectious titres (Doultree et al 1999;Jimenez and Chiang 2006;Belliot et al 2008;Girard et al 2010;Whitehead and McCue 2010;Su and D'Souza 2012). These apparently contradictory results could be explained by the biocide concentrations, the kind of QAC, the contact time and the nature of the surfaces tested.…”

An Extensive Method for Maintenance of Sterility in Mammalian Cell Culture Laboratory Routine

“…Potassium peroxymonosulfate is used to decontaminate not only chemical compounds, but also microorganisms [6]. This chemical has essential effects on a wide range of microorganisms including viruses [7,8] and bacteria [9]. However, attention is required during its common use since this chemical can be corrosive for some surfaces.…”