Efficacy of the Sentinox Spray in Reducing Viral Load in Mild COVID-19 and Its Virucidal Activity against Other Respiratory Viruses: Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial and an In Vitro Study

• Published in: Viruses Vol. 14; no. 5; p. 1033
• Main Authors: Panatto, Donatella, Orsi, Andrea, Bruzzone, Bianca, Ricucci, Valentina, Fedele, Guido, Reiner, Giorgio, Giarratana, Nadia, Domnich, Alexander, Icardi, Giancarlo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 12.05.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Acids; Antimicrobial agents; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 Drug Treatment; COVID-19 vaccines; Disease prevention; Disease transmission; Enrollments; Humans; Hypochlorous acid; Infections; Influenza; Iodine; Laboratories; Medical equipment; Pandemics; Pathogens; Patient satisfaction; Patients; respiratory viruses; SARS-CoV-2; Sentinox; Serologic Tests; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Viral Load; Viruses; Italy; Switzerland; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; hypochlorous acid; viral load; Sentinox; respiratory viruses; efficacy; randomized controlled trial
• ISSN: 1999-4915; 1999-4915
• DOI: 10.3390/v14051033

Sentinox (STX) is an acid-oxidizing solution containing hypochlorous acid in spray whose virucidal activity against SARS-CoV-2 has been demonstrated. In this paper, results of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) on the efficacy of STX in reducing viral load in mild COVID-19 patients (NCT04909996) and a complementary in vitro study on its activity against different respiratory viruses are reported. In the RCT, 57 patients were randomized (1:1:1) to receive STX three (STX-3) or five (STX-5) times/day plus standard therapy or standard therapy only (controls). Compared with controls, the log10 load reduction in groups STX-3 and STX-5 was 1.02 (p = 0.14) and 0.18 (p = 0.80), respectively. These results were likely driven by outliers with extreme baseline viral loads. When considering subjects with baseline cycle threshold values of 20–30, STX-3 showed a significant (p = 0.016) 2.01 log10 reduction. The proportion of subjects that turned negative by the end of treatment (day 5) was significantly higher in the STX-3 group than in controls, suggesting a shorter virus clearance time. STX was safe and well-tolerated. In the in vitro study, ≥99.9% reduction in titers against common respiratory viruses was observed. STX is a safe device with large virucidal spectrum and may reduce viral loads in mild COVID-19 patients.