08/07/2021 14:05
Clarín.com
International
Updated 08/07/2021 2:05 PM
An international team of researchers discovered that a drug approved to treat abnormal levels of fatty substances in the blood, such as high cholesterol, can reduce the infection caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus by up to 70%.
“Our data indicates that the drug may have the potential to reduce the severity of Covid-19 symptoms and also the spread of the virus ... Along with its long
history of clinical use and good safety profile
, our data has implications. global, especially in lower-middle-income countries and those for whom vaccines are administered. It is not recommended or suitable as children, those with hyperimmune disorders and those who use immunosuppressants, "said study co-author and doctor
Elisa Vicenzi, from the San Raffaele Scientific Institute
in Milan, Italy in a statement.
The new research was led by
Farhat Khanim
, an immunologist at the University of Birmingham.
The study, published this Friday in
Frontiers in Pharmacology
, has been carried out by researchers in addition to the University of Keele and Liverpool, in the United Kingdom, and the University of Copenhagen.
Fenofibrate is a powerful agent against cholesterol, a disease that collects fat in the blood of humans.
The drug mentioned is
fenofibrate,
an oral drug that is very cheap and is available worldwide.
According to research, scientists have shown that fenofibrate and its active form (fenofibric acid) can significantly reduce coronavirus infection in human cells in the laboratory.
Reduction of infection was obtained using drug concentrations that are safe and achievable using the
standard clinical dose of fenofibrate
.
This medication is used to treat conditions such
as high levels of cholesterol and lipids
(fatty substances) in the blood.
Khanim stated: "While vaccination campaigns are expected to reduce infection rates and the spread of the virus in the long term, there is still an
urgent need to expand our arsenal of drugs
to treat patients with SARS-CoV-2. ".
In women, the desirable value of HDL cholesterol is greater than 65 mg / dl, and in men, greater than 55 mg / dl.
Illustrative photo Shutterstock.
Covid-19 infects people through an interaction between the Spike protein on the surface of the virus and the ACE2 receptor protein on host cells.
The research involved testing various drugs, including fenofibrate, to identify candidates capable of
disrupting these interactions between ACE2 and Spike.
When fenofibrate was found to be a possible candidate, the scientists tested the drug's efficacy in reducing infection in cells in the laboratory
using the original
SARS-CoV-2
virus strains
isolated in 2020.
The researchers found that fenofibrate
reduced infection by up to 70%,
and is also equally effective against newer variants of the coronavirus, including alpha and beta variants, while its efficacy on the delta variant is being investigated, they say.