Abstract
The recent events of the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic showed the need for a general anti-viral therapeutic, independent of the specific characteristics of the virus, that targets intracellular mechanisms of viral production to prevent the rapid, overwhelming spread of infection and its devastating consequences. The development of the Cholestosome technology, a drug delivery system made exclusively of cholesteryl esters, is a solution for intracellular targeting of viral replication. It is well known that Zn(2+) is capable of inhibiting viral replication but the control of intracellular Zn(2+) concentration is tightly regulated. Cholestosome technology can encapsulate Zn(2+) and deliver it to cells to inhibit viral replication. The human betacoronavirus OC43 (OC43) model system was used to infect cells and infected cells were treated with Zn(2+) encapsulated in Cholestosomes as well as appropriate controls. Viral production was measured using CPE as well as PCR methods to determine inhibition of infection. Experimental results indicated a 55 % reduction in viral load for those cells treated with Zn(2+) encapsulated in cholestosomes versus Zn(2+) alone.