therapeutics Archives - Amazing Health Advances

Spirulina Offers 6 Positive Health Effects (Researchers Feature an Amazing Blood Pressure Result)

The AHA! Team — Wed, 28 May 2025 05:32:23 +0000

Sara Middleton via NaturalHealth365 – Spirulina is often referred to as a “superfood” – a popular buzzword in the natural health and wellness world. But you might be wondering: of all the food items out there being touted as a superfood, which ones are actually legitimate? Turns out spirulina – a type of blue-green algae that grows in both salt and fresh water – is one of them. A study published in the peer-reviewed journal Hypertension revealed how spirulina offers a specific natural benefit to people living with hypertension. Additionally, a comprehensive review published in Cell and Molecular Biology highlights spirulina’s impressive nutritional profile and therapeutic potential. This blue-green algae is a rich source of complete proteins, essential fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, and bioactive compounds such as carotenoids, chlorophyll, and xanthophylls. Due to these attributes, spirulina has shown promise in treating various ailments, including diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disorders, and neuroinflammatory conditions. Researchers discover what spirulina can do to high blood pressure readings Sadly, an enormous amount of people live with high blood pressure (a reading of more than 140/90 mmHg). This condition is a main risk factor for two of the leading causes of death (heart disease and stroke) – so, understandably, a lot of research has been done to find the best ways to control it. Recently, a team of researchers published their study’s results, which investigated spirulina’s impact on high blood pressure. A blue-green algae, spirulina is considered a cyanobacteria; it contains nutraceutical and bioactive compounds that have been an important part of alternative and holistic medicine for centuries, dating to as early as ancient Africa and the Aztecs (clearly, our ancestors were on to something). In this study, the researchers used peptides to create a spirulina in its digested form (a simulation of what naturally happens in the human body once the substance is ingested). Then, they tested this digested supplement on arteries. Can you guess what happened to the arteries? The spirulina was able to relax the arterial walls by stimulating a process mediated by nitric oxide. The medical community already knows that nitric oxide plays an important role in managing blood pressure. The more easily blood vessel walls can relax, the less likely blood pressure is to spike. Importantly, people with high blood pressure often have a disruption in the metabolic processes mediated by nitric oxide, which normally helps relax arterial walls. The researchers even extracted and identified the specific bioactive compound of spirulina that contributed to this arterial relaxation: a peptide called SP6. As the authors put it: “SP6 interacts with an important signaling pathway known as PI3K/AKT. This interaction leads to the release of [nitric oxide] and, consequently, a drop in blood pressure.” Their findings support previous research, including a 2007 study published in the journal Lipids in Health and Disease. But wait, there’s more: Here are 5 other amazing benefits of spirulina Whether you do or don’t have high blood pressure, adding spirulina to your diet can boost your health in a wide number of ways. Lowers LDL cholesterol and triglycerides. Reduces high blood sugar. Has a powerful antioxidant effect to fight damaging free radicals and protect against diseases. Has a powerful anti-inflammatory effect. Offers a concentrated dose of vitamins, minerals, and nutrients, including amino acids, vitamin B, copper, iron, and omega-3. Gram for gram, it’s one of the most nutrient-dense foods in the world. Spirulina is usually taken in pill or powdered form. For a typical amount, aim for 1 to 3 grams daily, and you’ll be amazed at what this little superfood can do for your health. Sources for this article include: NIH.gov MedicalNewsToday.com Healthline.com AHAjournals.org NIH.gov To read the original article click here.

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Engineered ‘Cat Parasite’ Helps Deliver Drugs to Brain

The AHA! Team — Fri, 01 Nov 2024 05:35:21 +0000

Yulia Karra via Israel21c – Researchers discover method to penetrate the blood-brain barrier and deliver therapeutic proteins via Toxoplasma gondii. Researchers from Tel Aviv University (TAU) recently discovered a method to deliver neurological treatment to the human brain using an engineered version of Toxoplasma gondii, commonly known as “the cat parasite.” One of the biggest challenges in treating neurological diseases is getting the therapeutic drugs through the blood-brain barrier (BBB). “It is very difficult to deliver drugs to the brain via the bloodstream; this is especially true for large molecules such as proteins, the critical ‘machines’ that carry out many important functions inside the cell,” said Prof. Oded Rechavi from TAU’s Department of Neurobiology and Sagol School of Neuroscience, who led the study. The study was conducted in collaboration with Rechavi’s PhD student Shahar Bracha, and Prof. Lilach Sheiner, an Israeli scientist and toxoplasma expert from The University of Glasgow. The findings were recently published in the scientific journal Nature Microbiology. Cat parasite To solve the BBB problem, the research team utilized Toxoplasma gondii, which can infect a vast variety of organisms, including humans, but reproduces only in the guts of cats. It is estimated that a third of the global population is infected by the parasite at some point in their lives. “Most people don’t even feel the infection or only experience mild flu-like symptoms,” added Rechavi. What made the parasite the perfect candidate for the novel study is its ability to penetrate the human brain and survive there in a dormant state, without reproducing. This prompted the team to genetically engineer Toxoplasma gondii to secrete therapeutic proteins. “The parasite has three distinct secretion systems,” explained Rechavi. “One of the systems ‘shoots’ a ‘harpoon’ into the neuron, to enable penetration. Once inside, the parasite forms a kind of cyst in which it continues to secrete proteins permanently. We engineered the parasite’s DNA to make it produce and secrete the proteins we want, which have therapeutic potential.” The methodology As part of the study, the team injected transgenic model animals with the genetically engineered parasite to produce and secrete proteins that travel into cell nuclei. Transgenic animals normally have a foreign gene deliberately inserted into their genome. The scientists then gathered enough evidence to prove that the proteins had been delivered to the target area and remained active in the neurons’ nuclei. The current study focused primarily on a protein called MeCP2, whose deficiency is associated with Rett syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that affects the way the brain develops. Researchers emphasized, however, that the method could prove useful in the treatment of a series of diseases caused by deficiency or abnormal expression of a certain protein. To ensure the method’s safe and effective therapeutic implementation, for both drug delivery and genetic editing, a company named Epeius Pharma, was established in collaboration with Ramot, the technology transfer company of Tel Aviv University, and with the University of Glasgow’s research and innovation services. To read the original article click here.

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Top Israeli Doctor Says Ivermectin Could Help Treat COVID, Urges More Research

AHA Publisher — Tue, 05 Oct 2021 07:00:32 +0000

Chris Mitchell via CBN News – JERUSALEM, Israel – In the battle against COVID-19, most of the world has turned to vaccines as the main line of defense. Still, a number of doctors and hospitals are looking for other options that could potentially play a role in defeating this global pandemic. Several treatments have seen success in treating the disease, such as Regeneron and Remdesevir. The drug Ivermectin also continues to generate interest. While the FDA and other organizations advise against it, one Israeli doctor is reporting positive results in clinical trials. Professor Eli Schwartz is with the Sheba Medical Center in Israel, considered one of the world’s top hospitals. For decades, Prof. Schwartz has traveled the world fighting outbreaks like Dengue Fever and Ebola. He also began the Travel Medicine and Tropical Disease Institute at Sheba. At the beginning of the pandemic and months before any vaccine, Israel’s Defense Ministry assigned Schwartz to find a medical solution for COVID-19. Professor Eli Schwartz. Photo: CBN News “Since Ivermectin is one of the drugs that we are using in daily life in the Tropical Institute, I knew it. I know the safety profile of it. And since there was some hints of in-vitro studies, which show the efficacy against specifically, even against COVID-19, we decided to go for it.” That meant putting the drug through a clinical trial that lasted ten months. “Our study, which was done here, it’s a randomized controlled trial, double-blind. It’s really, I would say, this is the best method that you are doing studies. And our conclusion is that it really has antiviral activities,” Shwartz told CBN News. From his international experience in the field, Schwartz knew Ivermectin targeted parasites. Since its development in 1987, nearly 4 billion doses with few side effects and at low cost have protected millions of people from insidious parasitical diseases like River Blindness and Elephantiasis. That success won its developers the Nobel Prize for medicine in 2015. Schwartz’s study made headlines in Israel when his trial showed Ivermectin to also be anti-viral. “This is the first drug to show antiviral activity. And then, I think, there’s a good reason to continue with a much more thorough investigation to see, for example, whether people who are at high risk, may not deteriorate to be hospitalized, to be mechanically ventilated, or to death.” Schwartz’s clinical study found that by day four, 86% of his patients who took ivermectin recovered. By day six, 94% recovered. “The bottom line is that … Ivermectin decreased faster the viral load, and also sterilized the culture much better compared to the placebo,” he said. Schwartz explained to CBN News this means Ivermectin killed the virus and his patients were non-infectious. Schwartz says this could save lives and reduce quarantines by days. “It’s a huge change in life. It’s a huge change for the patient. It’s a huge change for his family. And from the economical point of view, it’s a dramatic change. You know, it’s how much money you can save for the economy of the country, if you can shorten the isolation time,” he said. But ivermectin is not accepted by the global health establishment. A major FDA concern is that a number of people have tried to self-medicate using a form of the drug intended for livestock. “Don’t do it. There’s no evidence whatsoever that it works and it could potentially have toxicity, as you just mentioned, with people who have gone to poison control centers because they’ve taken the drug at a ridiculous dose and wind up getting sick,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci. The World Health Organization advises “that Ivermectin only be used be used to treat COVID-19 within clinical trials.” The National Institutes of Health says, “Ivermectin is not approved by the FDA for the treatment of any viral infection” and that “well-conducted clinical trials are needed to provide more specific, evidence-based guidance on the role of ivermectin in the treatment of COVID-19.” For studies to be accepted by the broader medical community, it must be peer-reviewed and published in a medical journal. That’s where Prof. Schwartz hit a roadblock. Several journals turned him down, but one is currently reviewing his study. “It’s something really very odd. I mean, in my career, I published, I think at least 300 papers and chapters, and I never heard the story that they have with Ivermectin. I think that this kind of international campaign, anti-Ivermectin; same that we have anti-vax, anti-vaccine, we have anti-Ivermectin. I don’t understand,” said Schwartz. Schwartz added that while many health agencies want better studies, no large-scale trials on ivermectin happened until Oxford University began one in June of this year. “I mean, it took them 18 months from the beginning of the pandemic to try to do it. I mean, people dying all over the world. And you have drug under your hand and you have to wait so long until you get any conduction of a good study,” he said. Now, the pharmaceutical company Merck, which developed Ivermectin, and Pfizer are in a race to produce an oral anti-viral drug for COVID that some believe is what Ivermectin could do already. “In my view, the whole story of Ivermectin is much beyond Ivermectin. It’s even beyond the corona. The problem is that we are in the arms of the pharma and the pharma is looking for new drugs. And, therefore, all old drugs which might be with a good potential to use it for whatever you’re looking for, there’s not any parents to push for it,” Schwartz claimed. Prof. Schwartz advocates the use of Ivermectin but also believes in the vaccine. “Most of the world, still vaccine is not available. So, if we have a medication that can try to reduce the magnitude of the pandemic in the meantime, that’s absolutely needed, but when, if I have to compare the vaccine and Ivermectin for prevention, no doubt the vaccine. This is the solution, the international solution,” he said. Schwartz hopes more research will prove the drug can help fight this pandemic and that it will eventually be allowed to treat patients on a widespread basis and not just within clinical trials. To read the original article click here.

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Israeli Trials with Already-Approved Drug Give ‘Astounding Results’ in Severe COVID Cases

AHA Publisher — Thu, 26 Aug 2021 07:00:32 +0000

Julie Stahl via CBN News – JERUSALEM, Israel – Could a simple drug that’s been on the market for decades successfully treat COVID-19? A year ago, CBN News shared with you that an Israeli research team believed that a drug on the market since 1975 could reduce the threat of the virus to that of the common cold. And now, the Israeli scientists have the results of two clinical trials to back up their claims. Prof. Yaakov Nahmias, director of Alexander Grass Center for Bioengineering at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and his research made a significant breakthrough in understanding how the coronavirus reproduces in the lungs. “Viruses are parasites. They can’t replicate on their own. They’re essentially a box of protein with a single strand of genetic material inside,” Nahmias told CBN News at the time. “In order to make more viruses you have to get inside human cells.” Nahmias, who worked together with Dr. Benjamin TenOever at New York’s Mount Sinai Medical Center, saw how the virus prevents the routine burning of carbohydrates in the lungs causing fat to accumulate. That led them to screen drugs that could potentially block the virus, “not by targeting the virus itself but by going after fat accumulation,” Nahmias said. That search led them to the lipid-lowering drug TriCor (fenofibrate) as an effective anti-viral, showing it both reduced lung cell damage by helping the cells burn fat and suddenly the virus production stopped. During the first trial, patients who were taking the drugs to speed up the breakdown of fats were recovering from the Covid-caused lung infections in a matter of days. The evidence even showed that there was zero mortality among these patients. Now the Hebrew University team is reporting promising results of “an investigator-initiated interventional open-label clinical study” led by Nahmias and coordinated by Prof. Shlomo Maayan, Head of the Infections Disease Unite at Israel’s Barzilai Medical Center with support from Abbott Laboratories. Fifteen COVID-19 patients, hospitalized in severe condition with pneumonia and requiring oxygen, were treated with TriCor for 10 days. “The results were astounding”, said Nahmias in a press release. “Progressive inflammation markers, that are the hallmark of deteriorative COVID-19, dropped within 48 hours of treatment.” “Moreover, 14 of the 15 severe patients didn’t require oxygen support within a week of treatment, while historical records show that the vast majority severe patients treated with the standard of care require lengthy respiratory support,” he added. Nahmias stressed that “there are no silver bullets.” But he said fenofibrate is much safer than other proposed drugs and “its mechanism of action makes is less likely to be variant-specific.” According to Maayan, all the patients were discharged in less than a week after the treatment began and continued the 10-day treatment at home without any drug-related adverse events. “Further, fewer patients reported COVID-19 side effects during their 4-week follow-up appointment,” Maayan said. The investigators stressed that more studies needed to be conducted and they are actively recruiting patients for two Phase 3 studies already being conducted in South America and the USA. To read the original article click here.

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Over-the-Counter Acid Reflux Drug Appears to Improve the Odds of Survival for COVID-19 Patients

AHA Publisher — Mon, 23 Aug 2021 07:00:11 +0000

University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science via News Medical – In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, doctors in Wuhan noticed something surprising. Many of the elderly patients who survived the virus were poor: not exactly the demographic you would expect to fare well in a health crisis. A review of the survivors’ medical records revealed that a significant number suffered from chronic heartburn and were taking an inexpensive drug called famotidine, the key ingredient in Pepcid. (Wealthier patients tended to take the more costly drug omeprazole, found in Prilosec.) Was an over-the-counter acid suppressant helping people survive COVID-19? This is how many medical studies begin, said biomedical engineering professor Phil Bourne, who serves as founding dean for the School of Data Science. “There’s often a phenomenon that doctors report anecdotally, or that’s mentioned in passing in a particular research paper, and that provides a clue -; a hook,” he said. Typically, to find out whether a drug is effective in treating a particular medical condition, scientists develop prospective clinical trials. But this method is expensive and can take years, Bourne pointed out. When faced with a global pandemic, it’s helpful to explore other options. That’s where data scientists come in. Bourne and UVA senior scientist Cameron Mura worked with an international team of researchers to analyze information from a database that holds the medical records of millions of COVID-19 patients living in 30 different countries. The team winnowed that number down to around 22,000 people, the largest sample size for a study on famotidine and the disease to date. “The power of the electronic health record, which is really yet to be fully realized as a research tool, is that you’ve suddenly got all this data you can mine to see whether what you determined in passing or anecdotally has any basis.” Phil Bourne, Biomedical Engineering Professor The team’s analysis, which appeared in the journal Signal Transduction & Targeted Therapy(from the Nature publishing group), showed that the data supported findings from other smaller-scale studies. When delivered at high doses (the equivalent of about 10 Pepcid tablets), famotidine appears to improve the odds of survival for COVID-19 patients, especially when it is combined with aspirin. It also seems to hinder the severity of disease progression, making patients less likely to reach the point where they require intubation or a ventilator. The next challenge was to figure out why. Data scientists like Mura and Bourne perform extensive detective work for medical analyses like this one, looking at existing information and drawing upon biochemical and molecular principles to propose a cohesive theory that helps elucidate the population-scale patterns they identify. Mura calls this “weaving a story” based on the data. He needed to work backwards from massive groups of people and draw some possible conclusions about what was happening at a totally different scale -; the scale of proteins that are “one millionth the size of an ant,” he said. One of the most dangerous phenomena COVID-19 can trigger in your body is something called a cytokine storm, which is a potentially fatal amplification of an immune response. When you become sick, your immune system releases inflammatory proteins called cytokines that tell your immune cells how to fight the infection. But in more severe illnesses, cytokine production can spiral out of control, becoming dysregulated. “Basically, your immune system goes haywire and starts attacking things like your otherwise healthy lung tissue because it’s so desperate to kill off the invading virus,” Mura said. “Your own physiology essentially uses a sledgehammer against the pathogen when a fly swatter would suffice.” The team’s theory is that famotidine suppresses that reaction. Although it was developed with a specific purpose in mind -; blocking the histamine receptors that help produce acid in your stomach -; famotidine, like all other medications, can cause side effects. Mura and his colleagues believe that interfering with cytokine storms might be one of them. “It may well be a case of famotidine having a beneficial off-target effect,” Mura said. We generally think of side effects as a bad thing, but in some cases, they can be harnessed to treat other conditions. In the future, it’s possible that famotidine could be re-purposed in this way. But the team’s findings are far from conclusive. Other studies have offered conflicting pictures of what famotidine can do for COVID-19 patients: Some have found that it has a neutral effect and one has even suggested that it might be detrimental. Mura, Bourne and their colleagues recently published a review of existing research on the subject, along with suggestions for a framework that could help reconcile the contradictory reports. Still, with its unique focus on combining famotidine with aspirin and its impressively large sample size, the team’s study has shed further light on an inexpensive and safe potential treatment that would be easy for doctors to prescribe. In the midst of an international health crisis, the study has also laid important groundwork for further research. “Scientific studies are sometimes viewed as the end-all, be-all, but they’re really just a starting point or a springboard,” Mura said. “Any good study raises more questions than it answers, and data science is often what kick-starts that process.” To read the original article click here.

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Study Suggests Vitamin B12 as a SARS-CoV-2 Antiviral

AHA Publisher — Fri, 09 Jul 2021 07:00:23 +0000

Sally Robertson, B.Sc. via News-Medical – Researchers in the UK and Spain have used a novel drug screening approach to identify compounds that could serve as effective antivirals against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) – the agent that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The team used a quantum-inspired device in combination with a more traditional fingerprinting method to search for drugs that are similar to remdesivir, the only antiviral against SARS-CoV-2 that is currently approved for human use. “The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the need to identify new therapeutics at pace, including through drug repurposing,” says the team from Fujitsu Technology Solutions in Madrid and King’s College Hospital in London. While both models predicted the antiviral drug GS-6620 as the top compound, the quantum-based model predicted the antiviral BMS-986094 as second best. Both of these compounds were initially developed to treat the hepatitis C virus. The more traditional Tanimoto model also predicted different forms of vitamin B12 as potential antiviral candidates. In vitro analyses revealed that BMS-986094 and the different types of B12 were effective at inhibiting the replication of SARS-CoV-2 variants. “While BMS-986094 can cause secondary effects in humans as established by phase II trials, these findings suggest that vitamin B12 deserves consideration as a SARS-CoV-2 antiviral, particularly given its extended use and lack of toxicity in humans, and its availability and affordability,” writes Rocio Martinez-Nunez and colleagues. “Our data illustrate the power of employing quantum-inspired computing for drug repurposing,” they add. A pre-print version of the research paper is available on the bioRxiv* server while the article undergoes peer review. Treatments That Can Be Rapidly Deployed Are Urgently Required Since the COVID-19 outbreak first began in late December 2019, intense research and development efforts have led to the emergency use authorization and mass roll-out of several effective vaccines against SARS-CoV-2. “However, the ongoing emergence of new variants, different immunization rates, supply chain issues, as well as the presence of smaller or larger outbreaks underlie the requirement for urgent treatments that can be rapidly deployed,” says Martinez-Nunez and colleagues. Drug repurposing refers to the process by which approved drugs are used to treat a disease they were not initially designed to treat. Virtual screening has become essential in the early stages of drug discovery, but the process is typically time-consuming since it generally relies on measuring chemical similarities between molecules. Accordingly, most well-known methods use 2D molecular fingerprints to include structural information about molecules. However, these methods do not consider aspects of molecular structures such as 3D folding. Where Does Quantum-Inspired Computing Come in? The 3D information obtained from a given molecule can be encoded as a graph, say Martinez-Nunez and colleagues. “In order to calculate the similarity between molecules, a new graph that contains information regarding the two molecules is required, allowing for better and faster comparisons to solve an optimization problem known as the Maximum Independent Set (MIS) that extracts the similar parts of those two graphs,” explains the team. By employing quantum-inspired computing, mathematical models are able to manage this kind of information while shortening execution times by up to 60-fold. The Problem with Remdesivir Remdesivir is currently the only antiviral drug approved for use against SARS-CoV-2, while another compound called molnupiravir is also emerging as a potential candidate. However, both of these compounds are associated with multiple side effects, including nausea and hepatic impairment. They are also costly and therefore unaffordable in many countries and settings. “There is, therefore, an urgent need to identify novel antiviral compounds that exhibit low to no side effects and that are readily and economically available,” write the researchers. What Did the Researchers Do? The researchers employed a Quadratic Unbounded Binary Optimization (QUBO) model that runs on a quantum-inspired device to search for compounds similar to remdesivir. They modeled remdesivir as a graph and then screened the DrugBank database for compounds already approved for human use. The optimal parameters in the algorithm were established, and the MIS problem was resolved within the conflict graph generated. The team also employed a more traditional fingerprint method – the Tanimoto index – that runs on a regular laptop. What Did the Study Find? Both methods predicted several compounds that exhibited similarity to remdesivir, with GS-6620 predicted as the top compound by both models. The QUBO model predicted BMS-986094 as the second-best candidate and Tanimoto predicted several forms of cobamamide, also known as vitamin B12. Next, the team performed cultured cell assays to determine the SARS-CoV-2 inhibitory capabilities of the compounds. This revealed that BMS-986094, cobamamide, hydroxocobalamin, and methylcobalamin all proved effective at concentrations lying within ranges suitable for human use. Finally, the researchers showed that these compounds were effective at inhibiting the replication of a number of SARS-CoV-2 variants, including B.1.1.7 (also called Alpha), B.1.351 (Beta), and B.1.617.2 (Delta). What Did the Authors Conclude? Martinez-Nunez and colleagues say the data revealed novel compounds that could inhibit SARS-CoV-2 replication, based on the QUBO model and the more traditional Tanimoto fingerprint. “BMS warrants further investigation, while vitamin B12 is readily available from multiple sources. It is affordable, can be self-administered by patients, is available worldwide, and displays low-to-no toxicity at high doses,” they write. “Our screening method can be employed in future searches for novel pharmacologic inhibitors, thus providing an approach for accelerating drug deployment,” concludes the team. *Important Notice bioRxiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information. To read the original article click here.

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New Study Into Green Tea’s Potential to Help Tackle COVID-19

AHA Publisher — Fri, 11 Jun 2021 07:00:54 +0000

Swansea University via Newswise – As India continues to be ravaged by the pandemic, a Swansea University academic is investigating how green tea could give rise to a drug capable of tackling Covid-19. Dr Suresh Mohankumar carried out the research with colleagues in India during his time at JSS College of Pharmacy, JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research in Ooty prior to taking up his current role at Swansea University Medical School. He said: “Nature’s oldest pharmacy has always been a treasure of potential novel drugs and we questioned if any of these compounds could assist us in battling the Covid-19 pandemic? “We screened and sorted a library of natural compounds already know to be active against other coronaviruses using an artificial intelligence-aided computer programme. “Our findings suggested that one of the compounds in green tea could combat the coronavirus behind Covid-19.” The researchers’ work has now been highlighted by online journal RSC Advances and has been included in its prestigious hot articles collection chosen by editors and reviewers. Associate Professor Dr Mohankumar emphasised that the research was still in its early days and a long way from any kind of clinical application. “The compound that our model predicts to be most active is gallocatechin, which is present in green tea and could be readily available, accessible, and affordable. There now needs to be further investigation to show if it can be proven clinically effective and safe for preventing or treating Covid-19. “This is still a preliminary step, but it could be a potential lead to tackling the devastating Covid-19 pandemic. Dr Mohankumar has worked in pharmacy education, research and administration around the world for more than 18 years and recently moved to Swansea to join its new MPharm programme. Head of Pharmacy Professor Andrew Morris said: “This is fascinating research and demonstrates that natural products remain an important source of lead compounds in the fight against infectious diseases. I’m also really pleased to see this international research collaboration continuing now that Dr Mohankumar has joined the Pharmacy team.” Dr Mohankumar added he is now looking forward to seeing how the work can be developed: “There now needs to be appropriate pre-clinical and clinical studies and we would welcome potential collaborators and partners to help carry this work forward.” To read the original article click here.

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The Dream Team: Scientists Find Drug Duo That May Cure COVID-19 Together

AHA Publisher — Wed, 09 Jun 2021 07:00:11 +0000

Tokyo University of Science via EurekAlert – COVID-19 continues to claim lives across the world and is infecting millions more. Although several vaccines have recently become available, making significant strides towards preventing COVID-19, what about the treatment of those who already have the infection? Vaccines aren’t 100% effective, highlighting the need–now more than ever–for effective antiviral therapeutics. Moreover, some people can’t receive vaccines due to health issues, and new variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, that can penetrate vaccine-conferred immunity, are being reported, indicating that we need to think beyond prevention. Given this need, a team of researchers based in Japan, the US, and the UK launched a project to develop effective therapeutics. This team included several researchers based at Tokyo University of Science: Visiting Professor Koichi Watashi, Dr. Hirofumi Ohashi, Professor Shin Aoki, Professor Kouji Kuramochi, and Assistant Professor Tomohiro Tanaka. Their goal was clear and simple: finding a cure for COVID-19. To achieve this goal, the researchers first established an experimental system for screening drugs that may help to control infections. This system used a type of cells called VeroE6/TMPRSS2 cells, which were manipulated to efficiently be infected with and produce SARS-CoV-2. “To determine whether a drug of interest could help combat infection by SARS-CoV-2, we simply had to expose VeroE6/TMPRSS2 cells to both the drug and SARS-CoV-2 and then observe whether the drug’s presence served to hinder the virus’s efforts to infect cells,” explains Professor Watashi. The researchers used this experimental system to screen a panel of drugs that are already approved for clinical use, including drugs like remdesivir and chloroquine that have already being approved or are being trialed as treatments for COVID-19. In an exciting outcome, the researchers found two drugs that provided effective SARS-CoV-2 suppression: cepharanthine, which is used to treat inflammation, and nelfinavir, which is approved for the treatment of HIV infection. Cepharanthine inhibited the entry of the virus into cells by preventing the virus from binding to a protein on the cell membrane, which it uses as a gateway. In contrast, nelfinavir worked to prevent the virus from replicating inside the cell by inhibiting a protein that the virus relies on for replication. Given that these drugs have distinct antiviral mechanisms, using both of them together could be especially effective for patients, with computational models predicting that combined cepharanthine/nelfinavir therapy can hasten the clearance of SARS-CoV-2 from a patient’s lungs by as few as 4.9 days. So, does this mean we will be seeing these new drugs in COVID-19 treatment centers? Of course, the drug duo isn’t ready to be rolled out into healthcare systems just yet. These findings justify further research into the clinical potential of cepharanthine/nelfinavir therapy, and only following this can we say for sure that it is useful and helpful. Nevertheless, given the ongoing nature of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ever-increasing death toll, the development of cepharanthine/nelfinavir therapy may provide clinicians and patients with a much-needed new treatment option. To read the original article click here.

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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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