The Phytochemical Tetrandrine Emerges as Powerful Blocker Against All SARS-CoV-2 Variants
Nikhil Prasad Fact checked by:Thailand Medical News Team Sep 08, 2025 4 hours, 50 minutes ago
Thailand Medical News: Ancient Remedy Shows Modern Promise
Scientists from the CAMS Key Laboratory of Antiviral Drug Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Technology and Application for Anti-Infective New Drugs Research and Development, NHC Key Laboratory of Biotechnology of Antibiotics, Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China, together with the State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substances and Functions of Natural Medicines, Peking Union Medical College and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, have identified tetrandrine, a compound used in traditional Chinese medicine, as a potent antiviral agent that can fight multiple coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2 and its variants.
The Phytochemical Tetrandrine Emerges as Powerful Blocker Against All SARS-CoV-2 Variants
According to this
Thailand Medical News report, tetrandrine works in a unique way—by targeting the virus at the very earliest stage of infection, preventing it from entering human cells. This finding makes tetrandrine a promising broad-spectrum antiviral that may help prepare for future coronavirus outbreaks.
How Tetrandrine Works
Tetrandrine is a bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloid derived from the Chinese medicinal herb Stephania tetrandra. The research team discovered that tetrandrine disrupts a critical process called “Spike priming.” Normally, the coronavirus Spike protein needs to be cut by a human enzyme known as TMPRSS2 before it can fuse with cells and release its genetic material. Tetrandrine binds directly to the Spike protein, destabilizing it, and also interferes with TMPRSS2 activity. This double action prevents the virus from unlocking the door into cells.
In laboratory experiments, tetrandrine not only reduced viral RNA but also caused the Spike protein itself to degrade. Importantly, tests on SARS-CoV-2 variants—including Alpha, Beta, and several Omicron strains—showed that tetrandrine worked even better against newer forms of the virus than against the original strain.
Animal Studies Provide Strong Evidence
The scientists also tested tetrandrine in neonatal mice infected with HCoV-OC43, a coronavirus often used as a model for human infection. Mice given tetrandrine had significantly lower viral loads in their brains. More importantly, tetrandrine protected brain tissue from damage that resembled the neurological effects sometimes seen in severe COVID-19 patients. The protective effects were better than most common antivirals currently being prescribed with no toxicity issues.
Resistance and Future Potential
While the study did uncover two mutations in the Spike protein (G688R and D814Y) that could make the virus less sensitive to tetrandrine, this only confirms that the compound directly targets the viral entry machinery. Researchers suggest that tetrandrine’s ability to block entry, combined with its anti-inflammatory and immune-regulating properties, makes it a strong candidate for d
rug development.
Conclusion
The discovery of tetrandrine’s pan-coronavirus activity is a major step forward. Unlike many repurposed drugs that failed in clinical trials, tetrandrine directly interferes with the most crucial step of infection. While more testing is needed in adult animals and eventually humans, this natural compound could become a vital tool against both current and future coronavirus threats. The fact that it is already used in China to treat other conditions may speed up its development as an antiviral.
The study findings were published in the peer reviewed journal: MedComm.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/mco2.70353
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https://www.thailandmedical.news/articles/coronavirus
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