In vitro evaluation of antiviral activity of Sisybrium irio (Khaksi) against SARS-COV-2

SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, drawn attention to the need of virus culture. In vitro SARS-COV-2 culture was performed to carry out therapeutic, environmental and virus genome studies. Isolation of virus from nasopharyngeal swab was performed by inoculating virus positive samples in available cell lines. SARS-CoV-2 topography was observed by using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Virus specificity was defined by serological confirmation through neutralization assay with COVID 19 convalescent sera. The SARS-COV-2 virus replicated successfully in Vero cell lines (both in E6 and CCL-81). The TCID50 and PFUs of isolated virus were defined as 10⁷ TCID₅₀/mL and 1.4 Х 10⁶ pfu/mL respectively. The virus particles with the SARS-CoV morphology was <150ɳM size. Virus inhibition in presence of convalescent sera of COVID-19 patients was observed. Sisybrium irio (Khaksi) was found cytotoxic on Vero E6 cell line and its antiviral activity could not be established against SARS-COV-2 virus in vitro. Successful isolated and archived native SARS-COV-2 may be utilized further for therapeutic, environmental and virus genome sequencing studies.