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The work on amantadine, published on December 1 in the pages of Communications Biology, was widely echoed, among others, by among doctors and scientists. The movement was caused, among others, by the final sentence of the work: “we therefore propose amantadine as a new, cheap, easily available and effective treatment for COVID-19”. On December 10, the authors of the text introduced corrections to it. The above sentence has been deleted. What else has changed?
- On December 1, “Communications Biology” published a paper presenting the results of research on amantadine in the context of SARS-CoV-2. It aroused criticism among scientists and doctors
- The misleading title stated that amantadine has potential in the treatment of COVID-19 and the sentence that the study results could serve as a guideline for treatment with amantadine was noted.
- – Amantadine has been studied many times and so far has not been shown to be effective in the treatment of COVID-19. Therefore, recommending it, saying that it is a drug recommended in the treatment of COVID-19, is not true – commented Prof. Krzysztof Pyrć from the Małopolska Center of Biotechnology of the Jagiellonian University
- A few days later, the authors of the said work amended it. As they themselves admitted, the title of the work did not reflect the main findings of the study, and a few sentences were misleading
- More current information can be found on the Onet homepage
Research on amantadine. Controversy after publication in “Communications Biology”
About amantadine, a drug currently used i.a. in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, it became high-profile 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). Despite many studies – conducted in Poland and around the world – it has not yet been possible to confirm the effectiveness of this drug in the treatment of COVID-19. Nevertheless, interest in amantadine in Poland is high, and many people believe that this drug is capable of overcoming COVID-19.
Given the above, it is not surprising that when an article titled “Amantadine has the potential to treat COVID-19 because it inhibits the known and novel ion channels encoded by SARS-CoV-2” appeared in Communications Biology, it induced a lot of interest. Some experts from the world of science and medicine reacted very critically to the information provided in the text, and then in its discussions in various media. It was about a confusing title, but not only that.
– The work that appeared in the pages of Communications Biology is not wrong. The title is misleading and the sentence saying that the research results can serve as a guideline for amantadine treatment – explained Prof. Krzysztof Pyrć from the Małopolska Center of Biotechnology of the Jagiellonian University. – Amantadine has been studied many times and so far has not been shown to be effective in the treatment of COVID-19. Therefore, recommending it, saying that it is a drug recommended in the treatment of COVID-19, is not true – emphasized the specialist.
Further part under the video.
Research on amantadine. Update of an article in “Communications Biology”
Ten days after the publication of this work in Communications Biology, the authors made important corrections to it. As they themselves admitted, the title of the work did not reflect the main findings of the study, and a few sentences were misleading. These are some of the changes the text has been updated with.
The title of the text was modified. Version: “Amantadine has potential in the treatment of COVID-19 because it inhibits known and novel ion channels encoded by SARS-CoV-2” changed to “Amantadine inhibits known and new ion channels encoded by SARS-CoV-2 in vitro”.
The last sentence was removed from the summary of the publication, namely: “We therefore propose amantadine as a new, cheap, readily available and effective treatment for COVID-19”. The sentence was also deleted: “Importantly, in the clinic, a visible protective effect of amantadine in COVID-19 patients was noted in a retrospective cohort study in Mexico and in the small-scale treatment of 15 COVID-19 patients”.
In the Discussion section, the sentence: “We propose the use of amantadine as a novel and effective treatment for COVID-19 through its ability to inhibit known (E protein) and new (ORF10) ion channels” changed to: “We propose to further study amantadine as a new and effective method treatment of COVID-19 by its ability to inhibit known (protein E) and new (ORF10) ion channels ».
In general, therefore, recommendations for the use of amantadine in the treatment of COVID-19 patients and suggestions about its potential in the treatment of COVID-19 have been removed. At the same time, the authors emphasize that the studies were limited to in vitro tests (i.e. they were carried out in laboratory conditions).
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Finally, let us recall the comment of prof. Pyrcia, which he gave us after the publication of the first draft of the article on amantadine. The scientist noted that the research described in “Communications Biology” did not bring much new. – A year ago, in a much better journal of this publisher, a publication appeared saying that amantadine, like other drugs, can bind to ion channels, and the SARS-CoV-2 virus E protein is such an ion channel – explained Prof. Throw.
– The authors of the publications from a few days ago showed once again what we already know: that amantadine binds and inhibits the activity of the ion channel. Amantadine has not been shown to inhibit infection in vitro (i.e. carried out with the use of microorganisms, cells or biological molecules outside their natural environment, under laboratory conditions – ed.), Nor in vivo (tests conducted in the living organism in animal models – ed. ed.). Even more so, it has not been shown that amantadine heals – explained the researcher. A very interesting biochemical mechanism has been shown that may be helpful in the design of drugs in the future – explained Prof. Krzysztof Pyrć. Full article: A controversial publication about amantadine. Prof. Thrust: indiscriminate faith in this drug can be dangerous.
It is worth mentioning that by the decision of the Ministry of Health from December 10, amantadine may be prescribed and dispensed only in the following reimbursable indications: Parkinson’s disease and syndrome and tardive dyskinesia in adults – treatment. – We want to fully protect the product for patients with indications, i.e. Parkinson’s disease and tardive dyskinesia in adults. Unfortunately, recently too much of this product has been sold beyond medical indications, explained the spokesman for the Ministry of Health. More on this.
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