Low-cost antioxidant enzyme is potential treatment for COVID-19, study says

Researchers from UCLA and China have found that catalase, a naturally occurring enzyme, holds potential as a low-cost therapeutic drug to treat COVID-19 symptoms and suppress the replication of coronavirus inside the body. A study detailing the research was published in Advanced Materials.

Catalase is produced naturally and used by humans, animals, and plants. Inside cells, the antioxidant enzyme kick starts the breakdown of hydrogen peroxide, which can be toxic, into water and oxygen. The enzyme is also commonly used worldwide in food production and as a dietary supplement.

“There is a lot of focus on vaccines and antiviral drugs, and rightly so,” said Yunfeng Lu, a UCLA Samueli School of Engineering professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering and a senior author on the study. “In the meantime, our research suggests this enzyme could offer a very effective therapeutic solution for the treatment of hyper inflammation that occurs due to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, as well as hyper inflammation generally.”

Lu’s group developed the drug-delivery technology used in the experiments. Three types of tests were conducted, each addressing a different symptom of COVID-19.