Proliferative responses of patients infected with SARS‐Cov2 and the possible modulatory effects of C‐Vx as a candidate novel therapeutic against COVID‐19

Abstract

COVID 19 as a serious global health problem has led to investigation of immune responses against SARS‐Cov2, both for better understanding of the pathology and also for development of therapy options. C‐Vx was originally developed by Hamida Pharma‐USA in collaboration with Miracle Labs‐Turkey for cancer treatment. With COVID‐19 outbreak, alterations in C‐Vx formula were claimed to form a possible concomitant therapy option against COVID‐19. This study aimed to investigate the effects of C‐Vx on proliferative responses of T cell subsets and NK cells in COVID‐19 patients. Patients diagnosed with COVID‐19 (n=28; mild: 10, moderate: 8, severe: 10) and followed by Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, and healthy subjects (n=10) were enrolled. Ficoll‐purified PBMCs stained with CFSE were cultured with PHA, C‐Vx and their combination for 120 hours. Following cell culture, monoclonal antibodies against CD3, CD4, CD8, CD16 and CD56 were used for identification of cell subsets. C‐Vx induced proliferation of total PBMCs, CD3⁺, CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells, the strongest in healthy subjects, the weakest in severe COVID‐19 patients. NK cells significantly responded to C‐Vx only in healthy controls. PHA‐induced proliferation of PBMCs, CD3⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells,and also NK cells were diminished with increased disease severity, which was regained to some extent with the presence of C‐Vx, in all cell populations but not in CD4⁺ T cells. The decreased proliferative responses with the severity of disease might indicate a disrupted immune function in severe COVID forms which could be re‐gained by C‐Vx.Keywords: Immune response tracing, Immunopharmacology, viral inf