Influence of Progesterone on Orthopox Viruses in vitro and in vivo

Abstract

Summary The influence of progesterone on virus‐host‐interactions was investigated for orthopox viruses in vitro and in vivo. Virus induced cytopathogenic effects in Vero cells were markedly reduced in presence of the hormone. Dose dependent restriction of viral replication was evaluated by infectivity titration and immunological antigen determination. Progesterone concentrations of 5μg/ml tissue culture medium depressed the production of new viral particles nearly totally. The results obtained by the two different methods indicate that probably later stages of viral synthesis are affected when lower dosages of progesterone are used. The protective activity of progesterone against pathogenic actions of orthopox viruses in vivo was confirmed by using rabbits for intradermal infections. Zusammenfassung Es wurde der Einfluß von Progesteron auf die Virus‐Wirt‐Wechselbeziehung am Beispiel der Orthopocken‐Viren in vitro und in vivo untersucht. Die virusinduzierten zytopathogenen Effekte in Vero‐Zellkulturen wurden in Gegenwart des Hormons deutlich reduziert. Die Hemmung der Virus‐Replikation in Abhängigkeit von der Dosis wurde mittels Infektionstitration sowie immunologischer Antigenbestimmung gemessen. Eine Progesteron‐Konzentration von 5 μg/ml Zellkulturmedium unterdrückte die Bildung von Viruspartikeln nahezu vollständig. Die Ergebnisse der beiden unterschiedlichen Methoden lassen vermuten, daß durch niedrigere Progesteron‐Konzentrationen spätere Stadien der Virussynthese gehemmt werden. Durch intradermale Infektion von Kaninchen konnte die protektive Wirkung von Progesteron gegen zytopathogene Mechanismen der Orthopox‐Viren in vivo bestätigt werden.

COVID-19 and Progesterone: Part 1. SARS-CoV-2, Progesterone and its potential clinical use

“…Referring to stage 1, progesterone could have a role in SARS-CoV-2 viral load reduction.It is also reported to reduce the virus infection enhancing activity of estrone [68] .It is relevant to mention here the effect of progesterone on other viruses: In a laboratory analysis progesterone concentration of 5μg/mL in tissue culture medium depressed the production of new orthopox viral particles nearly totally. This antiviral protective activity of progesterone against pathogenic actions of orthopox viruses was further confirmed in vivo by using rabbits for intradermal infections [69] .…”