Red wine helps against the corona virus, say scientists
Created: 08/21/2022, 10:25 am
New findings from Hamburg: Red wine and some other foods are said to help against Corona.
But the consumption of food alone is not enough.
Hamburg – Olive oil, green tea and red wine are said to help against Corona.
Anyone who now thinks that this is pseudoscience or wishful thinking on the part of wine lovers is wrong.
With the help of an X-ray experiment, the DESY research center found out that these three foods each contain a substance that ensures that the virus does not multiply as quickly in the human body, as 24hamburg.de reports.
corona numbers | Figures for Hamburg |
7-day incidence | 292.2 (as of 16 Aug 22) |
New infections in the past 7 days | 5566 (as of 16 Aug 22) |
Patients hospital (total) | 296 (as of 15 Aug 22) |
patients in intensive care units | 35 (as of 15 Aug 22) |
The experiment team led by Christian Betzel from the University of Hamburg and Alke Meents from DESY report on the results in the journal "Communications Biology".
However, it is not yet clear when these can be converted into an effective measure in the fight against the virus.
How Corona multiplies: Enzyme copies virus cells and blocks immune system
As already known, Covid-19 occurs in the form of spike proteins.
Part of the virus is also the papain-like protease (PLpro), which is a central enzyme for virus replication.
When the coronavirus infects a healthy cell, that cell is forced to produce new virus particles.
These are formed in a long chain and PLpro cuts them into individual virus proteins.
In addition, PLpro blocks a protein of the immune system (ISG15), so that the self-defence of the cells is limited.
Red wine as a remedy against Corona?
That's what Hamburg scientists are now claiming.
© Panthermedia&Westend61 / Imago
The researchers have therefore made it their task to find a means of blocking PLpro.
"If we can block PLpro, we can also boost the cell's immune response," explains Vasundara Srinivasan from the University of Hamburg, lead author of the study.
“We tested 500 compounds from the Karachi Library of Natural Compounds for binding to the novel coronavirus papain-like protease, which is one of the main targets for an antiviral drug.
A drug that binds to the enzyme in the right place can block its function.”
Food against Corona: Substances found in red wine, olive oil and tea that block virus multiplication
The scientists also found substances that can block PLpro – in red wine, olive oil and green tea.
For the experiment, the 500 natural substances were individually mixed with PLpro and then observed which substance has the ability to dock onto the enzyme.
For this purpose, enzyme crystals were grown from the mixtures, which were then examined in X-ray light from DESY's X-ray source PETRA III, with which the structure of the enzyme can be reconstructed down to the level of individual atoms.
"From this information we can create three-dimensional models of the enzyme with atomic resolution and see if and where a substance binds to the enzyme," explains Meents.
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The result: three of the 500 natural substances were actually able to bind to PLpro and thus slow down the process of virus replication.
These are called phenols.
In the report from the DESY research center, the three substances are described as follows:
"Hydroxyethylphenol (YRL), which was isolated from the henna shrub
Lawsonia alba
for the experiments , is a compound found in many foods, such as red wine and olive oil, and used as an antiarrhythmic agent.
Hydroxybenzaldehyde (HBA) is a well-known antitumor agent and accelerates wound healing.
It was isolated
from the copper leaf
Acalypha torta .
Methyl dihydroxybenzoate (HE9), isolated from the tagetes patula marigold
,
is an antioxidant with anti-inflammatory effects and is found in green tea.”
Covid treatment options in the future: Just drinking red wine is not enough
In subsequent laboratory tests, conducted by Hévila Brognaro from Betzel's research group, it was found that the three natural substances were able to slow down the activity of the PLpro enzyme by 50 to 70 percent.
However, it is not yet clear how research will continue so that another drug against corona can be produced from these substances.
Although the three phenols are already used in other medicines, more research is needed with regard to corona.
According to Betzels, consuming the food that contains the substances does not help against an infection and in no way replaces the vaccination - now also available in a fourth version for over 60 - and the FFP2 masks.
"Drinking green tea will not cure a corona infection!
Just as it would not heal wounds or cancer.
Whether and how a corona agent can be developed based on these phenols is now being investigated further.”