American scientists are investigating the efficacy of a variety of treatments available, including anxiety and allergy medications, that may prevent coronaviruses from taking over cell systems, then multiplying there. But one drug may make things worse, lab experiments suggest.
A few days ago, researchers reported that a common ingredient in cough medicine, "dextromethorphan", stimulated the growth of the Coruna virus in monkey cells, in the laboratory. Dextromethorphan appears to activate cellular adaptation, which the virus also exploits to reproduce.
"We don't necessarily recommend that everyone stop taking dextromethorphan," said Brian Schweicht, researcher at the University of California School of Pharmacy in San Francisco.
He pointed out that this work is only in laboratory experiments. When people did not prove that the inhibitors cough increase the severity of the infection, but because the lab results show "effect for the benefit of viruses", it would be wrong not to stand out , because it can be harmful , "noting that there is a need for further work and research in it.
Was Schwecht is part of an international team mapping the interactions between coronavirus and proteins in human and ape cells. Researchers have discovered that lung cells produce more proteins involved in these viral reactions, which may help explain the virus’s cause of severe disease in the lungs.
Scientists have tested a group of drugs to see if any of them can interrupt these interactions and limit the growth of the virus. Drugs that have shown good results in laboratory experiments, including monkey cells, include psychotropic drugs, haloperidol and clopirazine; anxiety and depression medicine (ceramycin); and antihistamines, clemastine and cloperastine. This is in addition to an experimental drug in clinical trials to test its effectiveness against cancer, called "Zotatifen". None of these has been tried to treat "Covid 19" in humans, yet.
The research team also found an experimental compound, "PB28", which performed better than "hydroxychloroquine" in inhibiting coronavirus growth, by interfering with specific protein interactions. Unlike "hydroxychloroquine", "PB28" does not tamper with EKG proteins, so it may have fewer side effects. The compound has not yet been tested in people.
The progesterone hormone also interferes with the replication of the virus, and may partially explain why women are less likely to die from corona than men.