In vivo efficacy of 2% povidone iodine, chlorhexidine gluconate, and herbal extract mouthwash on SARS-CoV-2 viral load in saliva: A randomized clinical trial.

Abstract

One of the major techniques to reduce the transmission rate of COVID-19 would be to decrease the viral titers of SARS-CoV-2 in the saliva of infected patients and it is particularly useful in a dental setting. The present study evaluated the change in salivary viral load of COVID-19 patients using povidone iodine (PI), chlorhexidine (CHX), and an herbal extract (RightSure®) oral antiviral herbal mouthwash (HM) at clinically recommended duration and concentrations. Thirty individuals with SARS-CoV-2 were randomly allocated to three groups: (1) Group 1, PI mouthwash; (2) Group 2, CHX mouthwash; and (3) Group 3, HM mouthwash. A baseline salivary throat sample was collected from all the participants who were later instructed to rinse with their respective mouthwash for 30 s. A second salivary sample was collected 30 min after rinsing. The SARS-CoV-2 viral load was analyzed using real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction wherein the cyclic threshold (Ct) values were evaluated. Independent t-test analysis reported a statistically significant difference concerning the PI group (before-after comparison) (P < 0.05). The rest of the two study groups failed to report any significant difference in the nucleocapsid gene and open reading frame 1a gene levels. While all three types of mouthwash increased the Ct values, a statistically significant difference was observed with PI mouthwash, indicating that it might potentially reduce the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, especially via aerosol but further studies with larger sample size and longer follow-up periods are required to investigate this relationship.