Oral drug fenofibrate may cut SARS-CoV-2 infection by 70%
By Benson | Published: August 7, 2021 07:00 PM2021-08-07T19:00:00+5:302021-08-07T19:00:00+5:30
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An oral drug used to treat abnormal levels of fatty substances in the blood could reduce infection caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus by up to 70 per cent, according to a study published on Friday.
The team led by researchers from the University of Birmingham in the UK found that fenofibrate and its active form fenofibric acid can significantly reduce SARS-COV-2 infection, that causes COVID-19, in human cells in the laboratory.
The reduction of infection was obtained using concentrations of the drug which are safe and achievable using the standard clinical dose of fenofibrate, the researchers said.
“Our data indicates that fenofibrate may have the potential to reduce the severity of COVID-19 symptoms and also virus spread,” said study co-author Elisa Vicenzi, of the San Raffaele Scientific Institute in Italy.
“Given that fenofibrate is an oral drug which is very cheap and available worldwide, together with its extensive history of clinical use and its good safety profile, our data has global implications – especially in low-middle income countries.”
The researchers noted that the drug, if cleared in clinical trials, may be useful in people for whom vaccines are not recommended or suitable such as children, those with hyper-immune disorders and those using immune-suppressants.
Fenofibrate is approved for use by most countries in the world including the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), they said.
It is an oral drug currently used to treat conditions such as high levels of cholesterol and lipids in the blood.
The researchers said two clinical trials of the drug are currently underway in hospitalised COVID-19 patients led by the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in the US and Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel. SARS-CoV-2 infects the host through an interaction between the spike protein on the surface of the virus and the ACE2 receptor protein on host cells.
The spike protein helps the SARS-CoV-2 virus to enter and infect the human cells while as the ACE2 receptor found in tissues throughout the body acts as a gateway for the virus. The study, published in the journal Frontiers in Pharmacology, tested a panel of already licensed drugs – including fenofibrate – to identify candidates that disrupt ACE2 and spike interactions.