Fig. 6.

Auranofin inhibits SARS-CoV-2 replication in the preclinical hamster challenge model. a) Scheme for animal experiments involving 10–12-week-old hamsters (n=4). b) Total RNA was isolated from the lung tissue of infected animals and viral RNA copy number was measured by qRT-PCR. c) Body weight of hamsters was measured from D0 to D4, considering weight on D0 as 100% (n=4). Differences between test groups and control groups were computed using the t-test with Bonferroni corrections for multiple comparisons. d) H&E-stained section of lung tissue from indicated group of animals. The areas marked in the circle show following (1) Normal healthy alveolar lining and morphology (2) Alveolar damage, cellular infiltration, inflammation (3,4) Protected alveolar morphology and reduced infiltration, inflammation. (scale bar - 200µm). e) IL-6 mRNA levels were determined by qRT-PCR from total RNA isolated from the lungs of hamsters. Comparisons against the "vehicle control infected" infected groups are shown above bar plots. The bracket within the figure shows other significant comparisons. Differences were computed using the Kruskal-Wallis test followed by a post hoc Dunn's test with Bonferroni corrections for multiple comparisons. n=4 for hamster experiments except in healthy uninfected group where n=2. *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001; ****P < 0.0001; ns – not significant. Error bars represent mean + standard error.