Kane Dane
Scientists Identify And Tests 69 Drugs to Fight Against Coronavirus
About 70 experimental drugs and compounds may be useful in treating coronaviruses, a team of researchers reported Sunday night. Scientists said some drugs are already used to treat other diseases and can be used faster to cure a disease caused by coronavirus.
What’s the procedure:
To infect a lung cell, the coronavirus must insert a coopted gene from its genetic system. The cell begins to make viral proteins, which are used to make millions of new viruses. Each of these viral proteins must be able to bind to the human proteins necessary for the functioning process.
In the new study, the scientists investigated 26 of the 29 coronavirus genes, which directly produce viral proteins. The researchers found 332 human proteins targeted by a coronavirus. Some viral proteins seemed to target a single human protein; Other viral proteins are capable of targeting a dozen human cellular proteins.
What are the scientists looking for the treatment of Covid-19?
The researchers looked for drugs that also capture human proteins, which the coronavirus found is required to enter and replicate in human cells. The team finally approved 24 medications from the Food and Drug Administration to treat seemingly unrelated diseases, such as cancer, Parkinson’s disease, and hypertension.
The list had unexpected candidates like haloperidol, which was used to treat schizophrenia and metformin, taken by people with type 2 diabetes. The researchers also found among the candidates who are now in clinical trials or undergoing preliminary research. Intensively, some of the possible remedies are medications used to attack the parasite.
And this list includes antibiotics that kill bacteria by gumming up the cellular machinery used to make proteins. But some of those drugs are also linked to human proteins. New studies suggest that this side effect may be an antiviral treatment.
Is there any medicine yet which can cure coronavirus?
There’s one medicine on the list, chloroquine, which kills the single-celled parasite that causes malaria. Scientists have long known that it can also bind to a human cellular protein called the sigma-1 receptor.
Has any test or trials been conducted on that medicine?
Only well-conducted tests can establish whether chloroquine was safe and effective against coronavirus, Drs. Fauci said. On Wednesday, the World Health Organization announced that it would begin a test for chloroquine, among other drugs. And on Sunday, Governor Andrew M. of New York. Cuomo announced that the state had obtained large amounts of chloroquine and the antibiotic azithromycin to begin testing its medication.
