Cholesterol Drug Helps Reduce Covid Infection

A drug used to treat the cholesterol in blood decreases the infection caused by SARS-Cov-2 virus by 70%. It destroys the interaction between the virus and the human cell.

Fenofibrate a licensed drug that treats high levels of fatty substances in the blood (cholesterol) was found to reduce the severity of COVID infection by 70%.

The study was conducted at the University of Birmingham and Keele University in the UK and the San Raffaele Scientific Institute in Italy. The research was published in the journal Frontiers in Pharmacology.

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‘The interaction between the spike protein of the SARS-Cov-2 virus and ACE2 receptor of the host cells is disrupted by new cholesterol drug.’

High Cholesterol

High cholesterol is a condition when the blood contains an increased amount of fatty substances (triglycerides). The normal value of cholesterol in blood is 130 mg/dl to 200 mg/dl. The risk factors associated with the condition are heart attack, stroke, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes.

SARS-CoV-2 Infection

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The SARS-CoV-2 is a single stranded RNA virus that contains a spike protein that gets attached to the ACE2 receptor protein in the human cells and causes infection. The virus generally affects the upper respiratory tract and causes inflammation, and severe infection can cause death.

The study was conducted in a laboratory where the researchers found that fenofibrate drug and its active form fenofibric acid significantly reduced coronavirus infection in human cells by disrupting the interaction between the spike protein in the virus and the ACE2 receptor protein that is present in human cells. The efficacy of the drug was about 70 percent.

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Cholesterol is produced by the body (liver) and is essential for normal body functioning.

According to Dr Farhat Khanim, of the University of Birmingham “The development of new more infectious SARS-CoV-2 variants has resulted in a rapid expansion in infection rates and deaths in several countries around the world, especially the UK, US and Europe. Whilst vaccine programmes will hopefully reduce infection rates and virus spread in the longer term, there is still an urgent need to expand our arsenal of drugs to treat SARS-CoV-2-positive patients.”

The data indicates that the fenofibrate may reduce the severity of the infection and also the virus spread. It is an oral drug available worldwide, which can assure safety in low-income countries that have limited vaccines. This drug can be used in children and individuals with hyper-immune disorders.

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Dr Scott Davies, also of the University of Birmingham, concludes by saying that : “We now urgently need further clinical studies to establish whether fenofibrate is a potential therapeutic agent to treat SARS-CoV-2 infection.”

Source-Medindia