A new study shows that cancer treatment drugs that have been used for more than a decade can cure Covid-19.
The drug, called palatrexate, is a chemotherapy drug that was originally developed to treat lymphoma-tumors that originate in the glands.
Chinese researchers have found that the performance of Presivir is better than remdesivir, which is currently the leading antiviral drug used to treat Covid-19 patients.
Despite its toxicity, Praratroxa was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2009 for terminally ill patients.
The adverse reactions of presidate include fatigue, nausea and mucositis – inflammation and ulcers of the mucous membranes in the digestive tract.
However, according to the researchers, there is great potential for reusing pralatrexate in a way that eliminates its side effects.
Color scanning electron micrograph of apoptotic cells (pink) severely infected with SARS-COV-2 virus particles (green) isolated from patient samples. Pralatrexate, a chemotherapy drug originally developed to treat lymphoma, may be repurposed to treat Covid-19
The study author, led by Dr. Zhang Haiping from the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, said that it is very important and urgent to identify effective drugs that can treat Covid-19, especially approved drugs that can be tested immediately in clinical trials.
“Our research found that under the same experimental conditions, Prarexate can effectively inhibit SARS-CoV-2 replication and has a stronger inhibitory activity than remdesivir.”
After the global outbreak of Covid-19, researchers were inspired by the idea of repurposing existing drugs originally developed to treat other diseases.
Remdesivir was originally used to treat hepatitis C, and was later reused as a potential Ebola virus treatment.Since the structure of these viruses is similar to SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes Covid-19), experts hope that it can help you fight the current pandemic
Artificial intelligence can help identify these drugs by simulating how different drugs interact with SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes Covid-19).
To help virtual screening of existing drugs, Zhang and colleagues combined a variety of computational techniques to simulate the interaction between drugs and viruses.
They used this hybrid method to screen 1,906 existing drugs that inhibit SARS-CoV-2 replication by targeting a viral protein called RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRP).
RdRP is an essential protein encoded in the genome of all RNA-containing viruses (such as SARS-CoV-2).
This novel screening method identified four promising drugs, which were then tested against SARS-CoV-2 in laboratory experiments.
Two drugs, Pralat and Azithromycin, successfully inhibited virus replication.
Further laboratory experiments showed that compared with remciclovir, pratronate has a stronger inhibitory effect on virus replication, indicating that the former may be reused for Covid.
However, this chemotherapeutic drug may cause significant side effects, and since it is used for patients with advanced lymphoma, it cannot guarantee immediate use for Covid-19 patients.
Nonetheless, the research team said that the findings support the use of new screening strategies to identify drugs that may require adjustment.
Dr. Zhang said: “We have proven the value of a new hybrid approach that combines deep learning techniques with more traditional molecular dynamics simulations.”
The researchers have published their work in PLOS Computational Biology, and they are now developing other computational methods to generate novel molecular structures that can be developed into new drugs for the treatment of Covid-19.
This study has raised widespread doubts about the effects of remdesivir, which was originally used to treat hepatitis C and was later repurposed as a potential Ebola virus treatment.
After disappointing results for the Ebola virus in 2014, remdesivir was tested in the early stages of this year’s pandemic.
However, there is no consensus on whether it is effective, and clinical trials have shown mixed results.
The NHS has approved its use for Covid-19 patients, hoping to help, but has been forced to ration the drug at a cost of 2,400 pounds (3,120 US dollars) per course of treatment.
The World Health Organization (WHO) stated in November that doctors should not “use remdesivir to treat coronavirus patients” regardless of their condition.
Officials at the time said that “no evidence” would increase people’s chances of surviving the disease, or prevent them from falling ill and require mechanical ventilation.
They also warned that the use of experimental Ebola drugs may cause “significant harm” because it may cause kidney and liver damage in some patients.
However, in December last year, a British panel of experts reported in Nature Communications that remdesivir may be a very effective Covid-19 treatment “for some patients”.
It helped cure a 31-year-old patient who had little reaction to the disease due to a genetic disease called XLA, which prevented him from making antibodies against infection.
The author of the study report from the MRC Department of Toxicology at the University of Cambridge, Dr. James Taventiran said: “There have been many studies supporting or questioning the effectiveness of remdesivir, but some studies conducted during the first wave of infection may not be The best way to evaluate its antiviral properties.”.
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