COVID-19 treatment: Anti-ulcer drug may suppress Coronavirus, says study

Among many drugs that have been tested for Coronavirus treatment, a new research has surfaced that has proposed another antiviral strategy for treatment. The study done by Hong Kong researchers noted that a class of existing drugs that are already in use for the treatment of other infectious diseases are likely to be able to suppress replication of SARS-CoV-2. According to a report by The IE citing the study said for this, Covid-19 symptoms can be relieved in an animal model. All the findings of the study have been published in Nature Microbiology.

The report highlighted that these drugs are known as metallodrugs as they mainly consist of metal compounds. It is to note that usually metal compounds are used when there is a need for antimicrobial agents. However, the study claimed that antiviral activities with these drugs have not been explored that much. It looks like the findings may provide a new therapeutic option that can be used for Coronavirus treatment.

Metallodrugs have been screened by the researchers and their related compounds inclusive of ranitidine bismuthcitrate (RBC) have also been identified as a potential for suppressing the Coronavirus infection. To be sure, ranitidine bismuthcitrate is an anti-ulcer drug which is commonly used and has the metal bismuth. This, the researchers believe can act as a potent anti SARS-CoV-2 agent. The report further said that RBC is capable of targeting a protein called Nsp13 and this particular protein is essential for SARS-CoV-2 in order to replicate.

When tested on the SARS-CoV-2-infected cells, the experiment pointed out that RBC has reduced viral loads by over 1,000-fold. When tested in a golden Syrian hamster, the drug was able to suppress SARS-CoV-2 replication further reducing the viral loads by 100-fold. The viral load declined in both the lower and upper respiratory tracts and also mitigated virus-associated pneumonia.