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“We are proposing amantadine as a new, cheap, readily available and effective treatment for COVID-19,” said an international team of scientists in an article in Communications biology. The work published in this prestigious scientific journal presents, inter alia, molecular studies on the effect of amantadine on the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus molecule. As it turned out?
Amantadine in the fight against SARS-CoV-2. Results of the work of an international team of scientists
Let us recall that amandatin is a popular antiviral drug, once used in the treatment of influenza A, and nowadays administered in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and the so-called parkinsonian syndromes, incl. reducing the tremors characteristic of them. However, amandatin became known in the COVID-19 pandemic. It has been suggested for months that it may help in the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection (due to its antiviral effect). Although so far research in this direction is still ongoing.
The results of their work have just been published by an international team of scientists (from Denmark, Greece, Germany). An article on this topic was published on December 1 in the scientific journal “Communications biology”. “The urgent need to treat COVID-19 has inspired strategies to reuse approved drugs,” the article reads. “Amantadine has been suggested and cellular and clinical studies have shown its beneficial effects.”
After the article was published, prof. Krzysztof Pyrć, Polish virologist. He explained that the findings of the published studies are known to science, but do not allow it to conclude that amantadine treats COVID-19. On our website, we publish an interview with prof. Pyrcio, in which we will thoroughly explain the doubts surrounding the article: Controversial publication about amantadine. Prof. Thing: indiscriminate faith in this drug can be dangerous. The original text from “Communiactions biology” is available here.
“We show that amantadine hexamethylene amiloride (HMA), but not rimantadine (amantadine derivative – ed.), Block the activity of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus E protein ion channel” – the authors of the article write. “It is worth noting that amantadine also blocks the activity of the ORF10 ion channel (…)”. It sounds very complicated. What is this all about?
- Thanks to viruses, we remember and learn
To begin with, the coronavirus is made up of four major structural proteins: the spike protein / S – plays an important role in the entry of the virus into the host cells; nucleocapsid protein (N) – protects the RNA molecule, membrane protein (M) – responsible for shaping the viral envelope. The aforementioned E protein, also known as the shielding protein, corresponds, inter alia, to for the formation of virions, that is, complete viral particles, able to survive outside the “host” cell and infect others. The S, E and M proteins form the viral envelope.
When it comes to ion channels – to put it simply, they are formed by proteins / protein complexes embedded in the membrane of a cell or virus (in this case it is referred to as the so-called viroporins). Their task is to exchange substances (ions) between a cell or a virus particle and the environment. As for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, it is known that conducted compounds play a key role in the pathogen’s life cycle, but also “exert a great influence on pathology in the host”.
The rest of the article under the video.
In the paper, the scientists emphasize that «the activity of the E protein ion channel is a marker of virulence (disease-causing capacity – ed.) Of SARS-CoV-1, reflecting the pathology associated with severe cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection. This suggests that inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 protein E viroporin may similarly reduce pathogenicity and therefore have therapeutic value in SARS-CoV-2 infections »the researchers state.
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An international team of scientists has also identified two novel viroporins of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus: ORF7b and ORF10. “It is worth noting that amantadine also blocks the activity of the ORF10 ion channel” – the researchers report, which is a kind of “double molecular basis of the promising effects of amantadine in the treatment of COVID-19”.
You can read the full “Nature” article HERE
Please note that amantadine has not been established as a drug for COVID-19. Doctors do not recommend using it in case of coronavirus infection. Research on the effectiveness of this drug is ongoing in Polish research centers, but there are no results yet. Experts urge you not to take amantadine on your own.
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