On 2 June 2021, a virtual kick-off meeting will take place to launch a three-year research project on combating SARS-CoV-2 in the mouth and nasopharynx using physical plasmas. The project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) with a total of €2 million.
Under the project title "PlasmaplusCorona (PPC) - Plasma-based disinfection of the respiratory tract to reduce the SARS-CoV-2 viral load in vitro and in vivo", the Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology (INP) in Greifswald is conducting research together with the Research Centre Borstel, Leibniz Lung Centre (FZB) and the Leibniz Institute for Experimental Virology (HPI) in Hamburg on a technical solution for the local treatment of the virus-infected respiratory tract.
This is based on the finding that one of the reasons why SARS-CoV-2 transmission is particularly high is that the virus mainly multiplies in the upper respiratory tract. Even if the symptoms of COVID-19 are not yet present or are only very mild, infected individuals are already highly contagious. Early reduction of the viral load in the mouth and nasopharynx of people who have tested positive but are not yet ill is intended to reduce their infectivity and thus counteract the further spread of the virus and, if necessary, the development of disease in the infected person.
Physical plasma is a mixture of charged and uncharged atoms and/or molecules and freely moving electrons, also known as the fourth state of matter, which is created when a gas is supplied with electrical energy, for example. So-called cold plasmas, generated at temperatures below 40°C and at atmospheric pressure, are already used in medicine to support wound healing. Their effectiveness against microorganisms and viruses has been proven many times over.
The project is designing and testing various technical options for the local application of physical plasma. In addition to comprehensive proof of efficacy against SARS-CoV-2, taking into account the specific requirements for such an application in a clinical context, this project focuses on preclinical investigations into the local tolerability of such plasma-based procedures. This will lay the decisive foundations for research transfer into clinical application.
The aim of the project is to develop a plasma-based technical solution for the local treatment of the respiratory tract that can be further developed into a medical device.
The project brings together the expertise of three Leibniz Institutes in physical, biophysical, biochemical and biomedical research. The three institutes are members of the Leibniz Research Alliances "Health Technologies" and "INFECTIONS" as well as the Leibniz Research Network "Immune-Mediated Diseases" (https://www.leibniz-gemeinschaft.de).
