The Role of Cyclodextrins in COVID-19 Therapy—A Literature Review

Abstract

Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) emerged in December 2019 and quickly spread, giving rise to a pandemic crisis. Therefore, it triggered tireless efforts to identify the mechanisms of the disease, how to prevent and treat it, and to limit and hamper its global dissemination. Considering the above, the search for prophylactic approaches has led to a revolution in the reglementary pharmaceutical pipeline, with the approval of vaccines against COVID-19 in an unprecedented way. Moreover, a drug repurposing scheme using regulatory-approved antiretroviral agents is also being pursued. However, their physicochemical characteristics or reported adverse events have sometimes limited their use. Hence, nanotechnology has been employed to potentially overcome some of these challenges, particularly cyclodextrins. Cyclodextrins are cyclic oligosaccharides that present hydrophobic cavities suitable for complexing several drugs. This review, besides presenting studies on the inclusion of antiviral drugs in cyclodextrins, aims to summarize some currently available prophylactic and therapeutic schemes against COVID-19, highlighting those that already make use of cyclodextrins for their complexation. In addition, some new therapeutic approaches are underscored, and the potential application of cyclodextrins to increase their promising application against COVID-19 will be addressed. This review describes the instances in which the use of cyclodextrins promotes increased bioavailability, antiviral action, and the solubility of the drugs under analysis. The potential use of cyclodextrins as an active ingredient is also covered. Finally, toxicity and regulatory issues as well as future perspectives regarding the use of cyclodextrins in COVID-19 therapy will be provided.

Advancements in application of chitosan and cyclodextrins in biomedicine and pharmaceutics: recent progress and future trends

“…It is oen used in research as the basis for various medical conventions and drug-delivery devices. [246][247][248][249][250][251][252]…”

Host–Guest Complexation of Itraconazole with Cyclodextrins for Bioavailability Enhancement

“…Cyclodextrins (CDs) are well known for their solubility-enhancing properties for poorly soluble drugs [ 18 , 25 , 26 , 27 ]. Natural CDs are cyclic oligosaccharides containing at least 6 D (+) glucopyranose units attached by a (1–4) glycosidic bond.…”

Towards the Development of a Cream with Antiviral Properties Targeting Both the Influenza A Virus and SARS-CoV-2

“…In our attempt to compose a cream with viral protective activity, we first tested the ability of different chemical and natural compounds to inactivate lentiviral-based pseudo-particles pseudotyped with the proteins HA (hemagglutinin) and NA (neuraminidase) from influenza or the G protein from the vesicular stomatitis virus in human embryonic kidney (HEK293T) cells. Among these compounds, cyclodextrins have been shown to possess virucidal effects against many viruses cultivated in vitro, including the herpes simplex virus (HSV), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), dengue virus and Zika virus [17][18][19][20]. In addition, sulfated polysaccharides that can be extracted from natural plants or fungi can interfere with several steps in the virus' life cycle without presenting adverse biological effects [21].…”