Promising Drug that Treats Malaria is Ineffective Against COVID-19

Promising Drug that Treats Malaria is Ineffective Against COVID-19
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Over 600,00 people located all over the world have now fallen victim to COVID-19, the well-known lung disease that has swept the entire world. COVID-19 is known to be caused by the SARS coronavirus-2, also abbreviated as SARS-CoV-2. Since this is a highly dangerous condition and it has caused both plenty of victims and a halt to economic activity all over the globe, drugs that were normally used to treat other conditions are now being used in the treatment of COVID-19, in the hopes of finding a therapy that regularly works as soon as possible.

Unfortunate Results

The Infection Biology Unit, which is part of the German primate Center, also abbreviated as DPZ, which, in turn, belongs to the Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, located in Gottingen and in an effort undertaken together with colleagues from the Charite, in Berlin, have been able to prove consistently that chloroquine, a drug that is normally used to treat malaria, inhibits the SARS-CoV-2 infection present in the kidney cells of African green monkeys, but is not able to prevent the infection in human lung cells in the presence of SARS-CoV-2. They have thus concluded that chloroquine is not likely to stop the spread of the virus in human lungs and is not a recommended drug for treatment of COVID-19, unfortunately.

How Infection Works

We already know that the novel coronavirus can enter cells, infecting them, in two different ways. They first attach to the cells and fuse directly with the plasma membrane, thus introducing its genetic material into the so-called host cell.

The second way is to enter the inside of human cells on the uptake through the transport structures that are present, known as endosomes. In both of these cases, the virus is attached to the cells, later entering, with the use of its viral spike protein. The spike protein has to be activated by an enzyme.


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Anna is an avid blogger with an educational background in medicine and mental health. She is a generalist with many other interests including nutrition, women's health, astronomy and photography. In her free time from work and writing, Anna enjoys nature walks, reading, and listening to jazz and classical music.

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