LYSOSOMOTROPIC PROPERTIES OF SODIUM BICARBONATE AND COVID-19

SARS-CoV-2 causing COVID-19 has appeared as an ongoing global public crisis, growing with geometric progression and has caused huge devastation till date majorly because of lack of targeted therapeutic agents like vaccines. SARS-Cov-2 entrance into the host cells is reliant on acidic pH. Thus, in the current clinical emergency there is a pressing need to look forward for adjunct therapies which could counter the acidic pH, so as to restrain the viral entry and its subsequent reproduction in the host cells. Therefore, the current review attempted to explore the possibility to use sodium bicarbonate as an alternative lysosomotropic agent based on the reported literature owing to its anti-flu properties and widespread use during 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. The suggestions put forward in the current review article based on the careful use of sodium bicarbonate could probably help to restrain SARS-CoV-2 infection.