Scientists from the João Lobo Antunes Institute of Molecular Medicine and the University of Cambridge have announced the discovery of a compound effective in the treatment of SARS-CoV-2.
Publika.az reports that the researchers’ article was published in “ACS Central Science” magazine.
The alkaloid piperlongum (PL) is found in Indonesian long pepper and is used as a medicinal ingredient in traditional Asian medicine. Experiments using a mouse model have shown that the substance has a strong antiviral effect in the treatment of SARS-CoV-2, reduces lung inflammation and slows down the course of the disease.
The researchers tested PL treatment in mice infected with the alpha, delta, and micron variants of SARS-CoV-2, and the treatment was effective in reducing viral load in all three cases. Piperlongum has also been compared with plitidepsin, a subcutaneous antiviral drug known to reduce viral load in COVID-19.
PL can be administered intranasally, which is a better alternative because the nasal mucosa is the primary site of SARS-CoV-2 infection. This application of PL is non-toxic and the treatment was found to be more effective than plitidepsin in infected mice.
Huseyn Ibadli
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