Skip to main content

“'Coronavirus has intelligence much stronger than other viruses' - Livemint” plus 3 more

“'Coronavirus has intelligence much stronger than other viruses' - Livemint” plus 3 more

'Coronavirus has intelligence much stronger than other viruses' - Livemint

Posted: 30 Apr 2020 05:30 AM PDT

NEW DELHI : The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is behaving weirdly and it appears that it has an intelligence much stronger than other related viruses, according to an Indian researcher who recently created a molecule that has the potential to be developed into a drug that can cure Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) in COVID-19 patients.

Speaking to IANS, Dr Subhabrata Sen, Professor, Department of Chemistry at Shiv Nadar University in Greater Noida, said that they hope their therapeutic approach will unravel solutions against maladies associated with acute respiratory distress syndrome.

His team found a set of New Chemical Entities (NCEs) with the ability to cure Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) or Acute Lung Injury (ALI) induced by COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) or other Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), which are also caused by coronaviruses.

The two-fold strategy devised by the research team involved the application of the NCEs to inhibit attachment, entry and infection of the new SARS-CoV-2 through a known target on the virus and co-administration of a known drug (that modulates a set of hormonal receptors in human) and these NCEs to attenuate ARDS caused by a novel coronavirus.

"The new molecule that we have discovered is based on an indigenous ligand in the human body. In general, one of the disadvantages of small molecule therapeutics is that human body considers them as xenobiotic. Once they are administered in the system, the body tries to eliminate them quickly, through enzymatic reactions primarily in the liver," Dr Sen explained.

"The advantage of developing small molecules based on indigenous ligands is that the body accepts it more thinking as its own. Consequently, the molecule has lesser chances of getting excreted thereby gets more time to achieve its therapeutic purpose," he told IANS.

The research team has filed a provisional patent in India to protect the new chemical entities.

They believe their therapy would not only prevent COVID-19 from affecting a person's lungs but will also address lung injuries already inflicted by the virus, in cases the ventilators are not bringing much relief to COVID-19 patients suffering from ARDS.

Responding to the question on a human clinical trial, he said: "Our aim to start the animal trial by next month and then have the compounds ready for the human trial by the end of this year."

Speaking on the COVID-19 vaccine, Sen said that it is very difficult to say anything at this point of time.

"One of the ways to discover a vaccine involves administering a small fragment of the virus or a viral protein inside the human body to stimulate an immunological response. The trial by Professor Sara Gilbert's team in Oxford University started a week ago, so until a month goes by, nothing can be said with certainty," he informed.

According to Sen, the lockdown has helped India to curb the spread of COVID 19.

"Lockdown is a strategy to slow down the pandemic so that the government gets enough time to prepare for the worst-case scenario, which is yet to come," the professor added.

'COVID-19 virus has intelligence much stronger than other viruses' - Gulf News

Posted: 30 Apr 2020 08:56 AM PDT

Coronavirus generic
Generic image used for illustrative purposes Image Credit: Pixabay

New Delhi: The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is behaving weirdly and it appears that it has an intelligence much stronger than other related viruses, according to an Indian researcher who recently created a molecule that has the potential to be developed into a drug that can cure Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) in COVID-19 patients.

Speaking to IANS, Dr Subhabrata Sen, Professor, Department of Chemistry at Shiv Nadar University in Greater Noida, said that they hope their therapeutic approach will unravel solutions against maladies associated with acute respiratory distress syndrome.

His team found a set of New Chemical Entities (NCEs) with the ability to cure Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) or Acute Lung Injury (ALI) induced by COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) or other Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), which are also caused by coronaviruses.

The two-fold strategy devised by the research team involved the application of the NCEs to inhibit attachment, entry and infection of the new SARS-CoV-2 through a known target on the virus and co-administration of a known drug (that modulates a set of hormonal receptors in human) and these NCEs to attenuate ARDS caused by a novel coronavirus.

"The new molecule that we have discovered is based on an indigenous ligand in the human body. In general, one of the disadvantages of small molecule therapeutics is that human body considers them as xenobiotic. Once they are administered in the system, the body tries to eliminate them quickly, through enzymatic reactions primarily in the liver," Dr Sen explained.

"The advantage of developing small molecules based on indigenous ligands is that the body accepts it more thinking as its own. Consequently, the molecule has lesser chances of getting excreted thereby gets more time to achieve its therapeutic purpose," he told IANS.

The research team has filed a provisional patent in India to protect the new chemical entities.

They believe their therapy would not only prevent COVID-19 from affecting a person's lungs but will also address lung injuries already inflicted by the virus, in cases the ventilators are not bringing much relief to COVID-19 patients suffering from ARDS.

Responding to the question on a human clinical trial, he said: "Our aim to start the animal trial by next month and then have the compounds ready for the human trial by the end of this year."

Speaking on the COVID-19 vaccine, Sen said that it is very difficult to say anything at this point of time.

"One of the ways to discover a vaccine involves administering a small fragment of the virus or a viral protein inside the human body to stimulate an immunological response. The trial by Professor Sara Gilbert's team in Oxford University started a week ago, so until a month goes by, nothing can be said with certainty," he informed.

According to Sen, the lockdown has helped India to curb the spread of COVID 19.

"Lockdown is a strategy to slow down the pandemic so that the government gets enough time to prepare for the worst-case scenario, which is yet to come," the professor added.

Trial drug offers hope for combating the coronavirus pandemic, study shows | News - Cordis News

Posted: 24 Apr 2020 03:09 AM PDT

JavaScript is disabled on your browser.

CORDIS website requires JavaScript enabled in order to work properly. Please enable JavaScript.

JavaScript est désactivé dans votre navigateur.

Le site web de CORDIS nécessite l'activation de JavaScript pour fonctionner correctement. Veuillez activer JavaScript.

JavaScript está desactivado en su navegador.

El sitio web de CORDIS requiere tener activado JavaScript para funcionar correctamente. Por favor, active JavaScript.

JavaScript ist in Ihrem Browser deaktiviert.

Für die fehlerfreie Verwendung der CORDIS-Website muss JavaScript aktiviert sein. Bitte aktivieren Sie JavaScript.

JavaScript è disabilitato sul tuo browser

Il sito web di CORDIS prevede che JavaScript sia abilitato per funzionare correttamente. Si prega di abilitare JavaScript.

Obsługa JavaScript jest wyłączona w Twojej przeglądarce.

Aby witryna CORDIS działała poprawnie, obsługa JavaScript musi być włączona. Włącz obsługę JavaScript.

News Feature: To counter the pandemic, clinicians bank on repurposed drugs - pnas.org

Posted: 29 Apr 2020 11:59 AM PDT

News Feature: To counter the pandemic, clinicians bank on repurposed drugs | PNAS

New Research In

Physical Sciences

Featured Portals

Articles by Topic

Social Sciences

Featured Portals

Articles by Topic

Biological Sciences

Featured Portals

Articles by Topic

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

His Apple Watch warned of an irregular heart rate. Turns out he was having a heart attack | Globalnews.ca - Global News Toronto

Image
A Nova Scotia man is thanking a digital watch for saving his life. Travis Chalmers, of Elmsdale, N.S., said he was outside playing road hockey with his son when he suddenly experienced a "warm sensation" in his chest area and a splitting headache. "I just thought it was a flu or cold coming on and my seasonal allergies had been kicking in. I thought it was flu-like symptoms and shrugged it off," he said. But to Chalmers' surprise, an otherwise laidback afternoon eventually took a scary turn when he glanced at his wrist. A notification from his Apple Watch led him to discover he was experiencing a heart attack. "About a half hour later, I'm laying down with my daughter and my heart rate is still beating out of my chest," he continued, adding that he monitored his heart rate on his Apple Watch for the next few hours. The watch indicated that he was experiencing atrial fibrillation, a rapid heart rhythm that can increase the ris...
Read more

“Opioids in America, Part 3: The other side of the crisis - Greeley Tribune” plus 1 more

Image
“Opioids in America, Part 3: The other side of the crisis - Greeley Tribune” plus 1 more Opioids in America, Part 3: The other side of the crisis - Greeley Tribune Posted: 31 Oct 2020 04:20 PM PDT Editor's Note: This is Part 3 of a three-part series looking into the opioid epidemic across the U.S., rehabilitation options in Weld County and stories from people who have overcome or are currently fighting addiction to opioids. Like many things, there's another side to the opioid crisis. While the addiction to opioids is a problem that needs to be addressed, people who are using the drugs exclusively as prescribed — and who still truly need it from a medical perspective — have been swept up in what some have seen as government's knee-jerk reaction to the crisis. In having their ability limited to get the drugs they need in order to function, many of these patients are left suffering debilitating pain. Richard Mark VanWormer w...
Read more

“A Runner Suddenly Developed Asthma. It Was Stranger Than It Seemed. - The New York Times” plus 1 more

Image
“A Runner Suddenly Developed Asthma. It Was Stranger Than It Seemed. - The New York Times” plus 1 more A Runner Suddenly Developed Asthma. It Was Stranger Than It Seemed. - The New York Times Posted: 12 Dec 2019 11:25 AM PST It was chest pain that brought the 34-year-old woman to the emergency room at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx. She'd been coughing for days, but that morning the pain was so bad she was worried that it had turned into pneumonia. She tried to tough it out, but when it was no better by the end of the day, she decided to go to the E.R. It took a few hours, but finally the physician assistant caring for her in the E.R. brought some good news. She didn't have pneumonia; she didn't have a clot in her lungs. This was just muscle strain from coughing. The year before, she was told she had asthma. She was given inhalers to stop the coughing and wheezing, but they didn't seem to do much. So she didn'...
Read more