Salt good/Sugar Bad: Part 3- Viruses

VIRUS INACTIVATION (VERY BRIEF OVERVIEW)

SALT GOOD/SUGAR BAD:

The 2021 paper Is There a Relationship between COVID-19 and Hyponatremia? concluded: "Hyponatremia is frequent among patients with COVID-19, who sometimes may present only with symptoms and clinical signs secondary to this electrolyte imbalance. The diagnosis of hyponatremia upon admission of a patient, in the context of COVID-19 pandemic, should nowadays rise the suspicion of a possible SARS-CoV-2 infection. The causes of hyponatremia in these patients are diverse. It is very important to establish the exact etiology of this electrolyte disorder, because therapeutic management differs depending on its pathophysiological mechanism. Noteworthy, hyponatremia may be considered an unfavorable prognostic factor among patients with COVID-19. Further studies are needed to evaluate he exact incidence, pathogenesis, and therapeutic management of hyponatremia in patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection."

The 2021 paper Dysnatremia is a Predictor for Morbidity and Morality in Hospitalized Patients with COVID-19 noted: "Hyponatremia at admission was linked with a 2.18-fold increase in the likelihood of needing ventilatory support."

The 2020 study Electrolyte Imbalances in Patients with Severe Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) concluded: "This pooled analysis confirms that COVID-19 severity is associated with lower serum concentrations of sodium, potassium and calcium. We recommend electrolytes be measured at initial presentation and serially monitored during hospitalization in order to establish timely and appropriate corrective actions."

The 2021 paper Inhibition of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Replication by Hypertonic Saline Solution in Lung and Kidney Epithelial Cells states: "We performed experiments to test if a hypertonic saline solution was capable of inhibiting virus replication. Our data show that 1.2% NaCl inhibited virus replication by 90%, achieving 100% of inhibition at 1.5% in the nonhuman primate kidney cell line Vero, and 1.1% of NaCl was sufficient to inhibit the virus replication by 88% in human epithelial lung cell line Calu-3. Furthermore, our results indicate that the inhibition is due to an intracellular mechanism and not to the dissociation of the spike SARS-CoV-2 protein and its human receptor. NaCl depolarizes the plasma membrane causing a low energy rate (high ADP/ATP concentration ratio) without impairing mitochondrial function, supposedly associated with the inhibition of the SARS-CoV-2 life cycle. Membrane depolarization and intracellular energy deprivation are possible mechanisms by which the hypertonic saline solution efficiently prevents virus replication in vitro assays."

Dr. Benhur Lee, a professor of microbiology at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai told the publication Salon, "I can increase the concentration of sodium chloride by 50% to my tissue culture cells and show inhibition of most viruses, but I don't go asking people to eat as much salty food as possible to combat virus infections, much less SARS-CoV-2."

Considering hyponatremia is associated with poor prognosis in COVID-19, one actually might be in good form to ask patients to cut out sugar and increase salt intake to a healthy level. Hyperglycemia-induced hyponatremia has been well-established (see nearly 50 year-old 1975 study Hyperglycemia-induced hyponatremia: metabolic considerations in calculating of serum sodium depression: "Hyperglycemia is associated with a decrease in serum sodium concentration.")

The 2019 study A pilot, open labelled, randomised controlled trial of hypertonic saline nasal irrigation and gargling for the common cold lead author Dr. Sandeep Ramalingam is a virologist at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. He spoke with the publication The Scotsman about the study, stating cells use the chloride ions in sodium chloride to produce hypochlorous acid (HOCl), which is the active ingredient found in bleach. In effect, cells use the chloride ion to produce bleach to get rid of viral infections, since bleach kills all viruses. Interestingly, Avenova and other HOCl products are blowing up on the market right now. The 2012 study Neutrophil dysfunction induced by hyperglycemia: modulation of myeloperoxidase activity states: "Based on our experimental model, the phagocytic and killing functions of neutrophil phagocytosis are impaired in diabetic rats because of the decreased production of HOCl, highlighting the importance of myeloperoxidase in the microbicidal function of neutrophils."