What
is new finding in drug for coronavirus or covid-19 vaccine or New drug shown to
stop coronavirus spread in 24 hrs
A new drug called
Molnupiravir has been shown to stop SARS-CoV-2 transmission within 24 hours.
The results of scientific research at the Institute of Biomedical Sciences,
Georgia State University, have been published in the journal Nature
Microbiology. And Indian researchers are planning to apply to a drug regulator
for drug tests. INTERESTS: The antiretroviral drug Molnupiravir, or MK-4482 /
EIDD2801, is taken orally. Molnupiravir is being developed by biotechnology
company Ridge back Bio therapeutics in partnership with pharmaceutical company
Merck.
The research team also
replicated MK-4482 / EIDD-2801 against SARS-CoV-2 and tested it on ferrets.
This is the first sign of an oral drug to immediately block the transmission of
SARS-CoV2 and can change the game. The team first discovered that the drug had
antibodies against the flu. We identified the MoA (operating method) of
Molnupiravir fighting flu viruses in a previous issue of The Indian Express via
email.
ITS
ACTION: In ferrets, the drug was shown to
completely suppress SARS-CoV-2 transmission within 24 hours. Investigators
infected ferrets with SARS-CoV-2 and began treatment with MK-4482 / EIDD-2801
when the animals began to clear the virus from the nose. When we housed those
infected and treated non-infected animals with untreated contact ferrets in the
same enclosure, none of the contacts were infected, the study said. However,
all of the ferrets of the source ferrets who had received the placebo were
infected. The exciting development was that it completely suppressed the spread
of untreated contact animals. According to researchers, if ferret-based data
were translated into humans, Covid-19 patients treated with the drug could
become non-infectious within 24 hours after starting treatment.
WHY
FERRETS: Ferrets are a popular model for colds
and other respiratory diseases because their physiology of the lungs is similar
to humans and researchers hope to mimic the features of Covid-19 in humans as
it spreads. “They easily spread SARSCoV-2 but especially those with serious
illnesses - almost like an infection that spreads to adults.
HUMAN
TESTS: “Medicine basically stops the replication of viral
RNA copies in a cell,” says Dr. Shekhar Mande, Director-General of the Council
for Scientific and Industrial Research. The drug is just like any other
anti-flu drug and we were on our drug list to get into clinical trials. There
are several promising drugs and they are being tested… Legally we have decided
to continue clinical trials to test Molnupiravir in humans and we will apply to
the regulator for approval. ”Globally, the clinical trial of Molnupiravir was
conducted by Merck. The drug is now in the advanced phase of 2/3 human trials
in many institutions. The phase 2/3 trial is a randomized, placebo-controlled
clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of MK-4482 in
hospital-treated adults with Covid 19 in 46 different countries.
What happened with oxygen level, when people infected with coronavirus
When infected by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, people experience
a drop in oxygen levels in their blood.
This makes them vulnerable to damage in a large
range of tissues. Compare this with marine mammals such as dolphins and whales,
which spend their lifetime switching between environments of high and low
oxygen levels, but tolerate both — because their bodies have adapted that way.
In a review article published in Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology
, ecologist and evolutionary
biologist Terrie Williams of the University of California–Santa Cruz explores
how the diving physiology of marine mammals can help us understand the effects
of Covid-19. Williams has spent decades studying the physiology of marine mammals
and their extraordinary ability to perform strenuous activities while holding their
breath for long periods under water. Texas A&M University marine biologist
Randall Davishas co-authored the paper with her.
Marine mammals have ways to protect
themselves and allow their organs to keep functioning while holding their
breath for hours at a time. But to be able do that, they have had to undergo a
whole suite of biological adaptations. The fact that humans lack these adaptations
makes it important for people to protect themselves from infection with this virus.
“Damage to oxygen-deprived tissues happens fast and can be irreversible, which may
account for the long- term effects we are beginning to see in people after
coronavirus infections.
The heart and brain are especially sensitive
to oxygen deprivation, and marine mammals have multiple mechanisms to protect
these and other critical organs .
■Marine mammals have a capacity
for carrying much more oxygen than humans.
■ Some marine mammals contract their spleen during dives, which releases oxygen-rich blood cells into the
circulation.
■ To avoid blood clots resulting from such high concentrations of
red blood cells, many marine mammal species lack a clotting mechanism found in
other mammals.
■ Marine mammals have greatly increased concentrations of oxygen carrying
proteins such as myoglobin in heart and skeletal muscles, and neuroglobin and cytoglobin
in the brain.
■ Numerous safety factors enable tissues in marine mammals to withstand
low oxygen and the subsequent reperfusion of tissues with oxygenated blood. In
humans, reperfusion after a heart attack or stroke often leads to additional tissue
damage.
According to Williams, the solutions that
marine mammals have evolved provide a natural template for understanding the potential
for damage to oxygen-deprived tissues in humans. There are so many
ramifications of shutting down the oxygen pathway, and I think that’s what we’re
seeing in these Covid patients,” she said. “Our heart and brain cells are meant
to last a life time, and we cannot replace them once they are damaged,” she
added. “Dolphins and whales have natural protections that humans lack, so we
are highly vulnerable to hypoxia.” The research was funded by the Office of
Naval Research.