Chlorhexidine: An effective anticovid mouth rinse

Ashish Jain; Vishakha Grover; Charandeep Singh; Anshul Sharma; Deepjyoti Kumar Das; Prashant Singh; Krishan Gopal Thakur; Rajesh P Ringe

doi:10.4103/jisp.jisp_824_20

Chlorhexidine: An effective anticovid mouth rinse

J Indian Soc Periodontol. 2021 Jan-Feb;25(1):86-88. doi: 10.4103/jisp.jisp_824_20. Epub 2021 Jan 7.

Authors

Ashish Jain¹, Vishakha Grover², Charandeep Singh³, Anshul Sharma³, Deepjyoti Kumar Das³, Prashant Singh³, Krishan Gopal Thakur³, Rajesh P Ringe³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Periodontology, Dr. H. S. J. Institute of Dental Sciences, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India.
² Department of Periodontology and Oral Implantology, Dr. H. S. J. Institute of Dental Sciences, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India.
³ Structural Biology Laboratory, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Institute of Microbial Technology, Chandigarh, India.

Abstract

Context: Dentists across the globe are witnessing a completely unforeseen and uncertain professional situation during these times of COVID-19 pandemic. There is conflicting evidence regarding the effectiveness of routinely used mouthwashes and especially Chlorhexidine, to reduce the viral load in oral cavity and the aerosols during oral procedures.

Aims: Comparative evaluation of the effectiveness of the current 'gold standard' chlorhexidine and povidone iodine as a control agent, through an in-vitro analysis.

Settings and design: In-vitro laboratory analysis.

Methods and material: All the experiments for analysis of antiviral efficacy of chlorhexidine digluconate (2%)and povidone iodine(1%), against SARS-CoV-2 virus were performed in the BSL3 facility at the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Institute of Microbial Technology, using the VeroE6 cell lines. The analysis of the virus inactivation was based on quantification of viral RNA (Cycle threshold (Ct) profile) present in the culture supernatant using Real-Time Quantitative Reverse Transcription PCR (qRT-PCR).

Statistical analysis used: Descriptive analysis (Statistical package for social sciences (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, version 15.0 for Windows).

Results: Chlorhexidine digluconate in 0.2% concentration inactivated more than 99.9% of SARS CoV 2 virus, in minimal contact time of 30 seconds, which was considered better efficacy than povidone-iodine utilized for 30 and 60 seconds. Subtle differences were observed in the activity of both the compounds in terms of percent inactivation of virus, though a greater relative change in Ct values was observed for chlorhexidine.

Conclusions: Within the limitations of the present study, it can be concluded that Chlorhexidine digluconate in 0.2% concentration inactivated SARS CoV 2 in minimal contact time i.e 30 secs, however both compounds tested i.e Chlorhexidine and povidone-iodine were found to have antiviral activity against SARS CoV2 virus.

Keywords: Antiseptic; Covid-19; chlorhexidine; mouth wash; preprocedural rinse; quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction; severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; viral load.