In vitro it works

The drug for multiple sclerosis has shown double effectiveness in infection with SARS-CoV-2

Svetlana Maslova, Hi-tech+

The drug works in two directions — it blocks the replication of the coronavirus, while suppressing an excessive immune response to the virus, which leads to inflammation. The drug has already been approved for humans, so scientists hope for an early launch of clinical trials.

Testing of drugs already approved for humans remains the most popular strategy for finding drugs against COVID-19 in a pandemic. Scientists from Aarhus University has shown that the drug dimethyl fumarate, approved for patients with multiple sclerosis and a number of other diseases, suppresses the replication of SARS-CoV-2 in human cells. So far, these are the first preclinical results, but researchers are very optimistic about obtaining similar results in the human body.

Another important result of testing demethyl fumarate was its anti-inflammatory effect, writes EurekAlert (Medicine for multiple sclerosis patients inhibits coronavirus - at least in a test tube).

Article by Olagnier et al. SARS-CoV2-mediated suppression of NRF2-signaling reveals potential antiviral and anti-inflammatory activity of 4-octyl-itaconate and dimethyl fumarate published in the journal Nature Communications – VM.

The drug fights the excessive immune response caused by SARS-CoV-2, which remains one of the main causes of death from COVID-19, the authors emphasize.

"The results obtained mean that the effect of dimethyl fumarate can be tested on patients with COVID-19 here and now," the researchers concluded. However, the specific timing of the launch of pilot studies has not yet been determined.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru