NIH Researchers Identify Potential New Antiviral Drug for COVID-19

AHA Publisher — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 07:00:34 +0000

NIH/Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development via EurekAlert – The experimental drug TEMPOL may be a promising oral antiviral treatment for COVID-19, suggests a study of cell cultures by researchers at the National Institutes of Health. TEMPOL can limit SARS-CoV-2 infection by impairing the activity of a viral enzyme called RNA replicase. The work was led by researchers at NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). The study appears in Science. “We urgently need additional effective, accessible treatments for COVID-19,” said Diana W. Bianchi, M.D., NICHD Director. “An oral drug that prevents SARS-CoV-2 from replicating would be an important tool for reducing the severity of the disease.” The study team was led by Tracey A. Rouault, M.D., head of the NICHD Section on Human Iron Metabolism. It discovered TEMPOL’s effectiveness by evaluating a more basic question on how the virus uses its RNA replicase, an enzyme that allows SARS-CoV-2 to replicate its genome and make copies of itself once inside a cell. Researchers tested whether the RNA replicase (specifically the enzyme’s nsp12 subunit) requires iron-sulfur clusters for structural support. Their findings indicate that the SARS-CoV-2 RNA replicase requires two iron-sulfur clusters to function optimally. Earlier studies had mistakenly identified these iron-sulfur cluster binding sites for zinc-binding sites, likely because iron-sulfur clusters degrade easily under standard experimental conditions. Identifying this characteristic of the RNA replicase also enables researchers to exploit a weakness in the virus. TEMPOL can degrade iron-sulfur clusters, and previous research from the Rouault Lab has shown the drug may be effective in other diseases that involve iron-sulfur clusters. In cell culture experiments with live SARS-CoV-2 virus, the study team found that the drug can inhibit viral replication. Based on previous animal studies of TEMPOL in other diseases, the study authors noted that the TEMPOL doses used in their antiviral experiments could likely be achieved in tissues that are primary targets for the virus, such as the salivary glands and the lungs. “Given TEMPOL’s safety profile and the dosage considered therapeutic in our study, we are hopeful,” said Dr. Rouault. “However, clinical studies are needed to determine if the drug is effective in patients, particularly early in the disease course when the virus begins to replicate.” The study team plans on conducting additional animal studies and will seek opportunities to evaluate TEMPOL in a clinical study of COVID-19. To read the original article click here.

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U.S. Government Funded Virus Research Inside China With a $3.7 Million Grant?

AHA Publisher — Sun, 26 Apr 2020 07:00:20 +0000

Sara Middleton, staff writer via NaturalHealth365 – What’s the term you always hear about exercising caution when consuming the news? “Follow the money.” It’s truly a sad state of affairs when the public has to worry about whether their governments were more involved in this coronavirus pandemic than they’ve been led to believe. But, we may just have to look at the paper trail. (NaturalHealth365) As we reported over two months ago, infectious disease experts and others have long speculated that the new and deadly strain of coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, originated in a Chinese lab that studies dangerous pathogens. Now, in a bombshell turn of events, reports are coming out that the U.S. government has been funding this very lab for many years! Coronavirus Research in China Got Financial Support from the U.S. Government The controversial lab in question is a BSL-4 facility at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. It’s one of the handful of labs in the world with the highest biosafety certification required to do research on extremely dangerous pathogens like: the Ebola virus, small pox, and yes – coronavirus. The fact that the Wuhan lab conducts experiments with both bats and coronaviruses is a matter of “public record” according to the BBC. Moreover, it turns out that the United States government has been funding this kind of sickening research. No doubt, this video reveals only part of the story. We, at NaturalHealth365, will continue to monitor this story as the facts get revealed. In the video, the White House acknowledges that the lab was given “a substantial amount of money” from the National Institutes of Health during the Obama administration – with reports indicating it was for $3.7 million! If indeed the virus got its true origins at the American-funded Chinese lab, it’s yet to be determined if the virus leaked out accidentally or was maliciously released as a bioweapon. Mainstream Media Finally Recognizes a Disturbing Link Between the U.S. and China Mainstream media outlets are reporting more and more about the potential link between the COVID-19 pandemic and a China laboratory. In an April 17 interview on NPR’s Morning Edition with Steve Inskeep, NPR’s national security correspondent Greg Myre responded to questions about whether he believed the virus that causes COVID-19 did in fact come from Wuhan’s BSL-4 facility. While Myre cautions that there’s still “lots to learn” about the potential link, he goes on to acknowledge that the United States intelligence government is actively investigating the possibility and that, of course, “Wuhan Institute of Virology just a handful of miles away from where the wet market was.” “The intelligence community hasn’t trusted the Chinese explanations, and it sees their ongoing behavior as suspicious,” Myre continues. “But they’re not prepared to make a final assessment.” Also in the interview was a reference to a jaw-dropping statement from U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who said last week that Beijing “needs to come clean” about the government’s knowledge about where the virus came from and how it spread. Conversely, a study published in March in Nature Medicine found no genetic evidence that the virus was created in a lab, and as recently as April 18th, officials from the Chinese lab itself, including vice director Yuan Zhiming, have vehemently denied the claim. We’ll be watching this news story very closely over the coming days, weeks, and months. This article has been modified. To read the original article click here.

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NIH Researchers Identify Potential New Antiviral Drug for COVID-19

U.S. Government Funded Virus Research Inside China With a $3.7 Million Grant?