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Alcohol abrogates human norovirus infectivity in a pH-dependent manner
Shintaro Sato1,2,3, Naomi Matsumoto4,5, Kota Hisaie4
1Mucosal Vaccine Project, BIKEN Innovative Vaccine Research Alliance Laboratories, Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan. shinta@biken.osaka-u.ac.jp.
Scientific Reports
|September 28, 2020
Summary
Alcohol disinfectants can effectively inactivate human noroviruses (HuNoV). Modifying alcohol disinfectants with electrolytes enhances their efficacy against various HuNoV genotypes, even with organic contamination.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Virology
- Infectious Diseases
Background:
- Alcohol-based disinfectants are common for sanitizing microorganisms, including viruses.
- Their lipolytic mechanism limits effectiveness against non-enveloped viruses like noroviruses.
- Current research often uses surrogate viruses due to the lack of in vitro cultivation methods for human norovirus (HuNoV).
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the efficacy of alcohol-based disinfectants against HuNoV.
- To determine if modified alcohol formulations can inactivate HuNoV effectively.
- To explore methods to overcome limitations of alcohol-based disinfectants against HuNoV.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived intestinal epithelial cells.
- Testing ethanol and isopropanol for their effect on GII.4 genotype HuNoV replication.
- Evaluating the impact of pH adjustments and salting-out on alcohol's virucidal activity.
Main Results:
- Ethanol and isopropanol alone significantly suppressed GII.4 HuNoV replication in intestinal cells.
- Adjusting pH and using salting-out enhanced alcohol's virucidal effect against HuNoV.
- These modifications also mitigated interference from organic contaminants.
Conclusions:
- Alcohol-based disinfectants, particularly when modified, are effective against HuNoV.
- Electrolyte-containing alcohol disinfectants show potential for HuNoV inactivation, similar to sodium hypochlorite.
- This research provides a basis for developing effective HuNoV disinfection strategies.
