Development of Low-Temperature Plasma and Plasma-Activated Solutions Contributing to the Suppression of Infectious Disease Spread

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 21K18616
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 14:Plasma science and related fields
• Research Institution: Nagoya University
• Principal Investigator: Tanaka Hiromasa 名古屋大学, 低温プラズマ科学研究センター, 教授 (00508129)
• Project Period (FY): 2021-07-09 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 低温プラズマ / 新型コロナウイルス

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We established an experimental system for human coronavirus OC43, which can be handled at BSL-2. We compared Strong PAL with a shorter irradiation distance to the liquid surface and Mild PAL with a longer irradiation distance, and found that Mild PAL exhibited a greater killing effect. We further investigated the inactivation ability of Mild PAL against porcine coronavirus (PVDE) and the Delta variant of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. The results showed that Mild PAL had sufficient inactivation ability against these viruses compared to the control. From these findings, it was demonstrated that PAL has inactivation ability against coronaviruses such as the novel coronavirus.

Free Research Field

プラズマ生命科学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

プラズマ活性乳酸リンゲル液（PAL）によるウイルスの不活化効果を確認できたことは学術的に意義深い。また、2020年1月30日にWHOが新型コロナウイルス感染症についてパンデミックを宣言して以来2023年5月8日に新型コロナウイルス感染症が五類へ移行するまでの約3年間社会課題となったが、PALによる新型コロナウイルスSARS-Cov2デルタ株に対する不活化能を示せたことは社会的にも意義深い。