Few alternatives for treating people infected with the SARS-CoV-2 are accessible as COVID-19 instances continue to rise across the United States and the world. However, a recent study from the University of Georgia provides promise for a feasible treatment against the disease, which has taken the lives of over 4 million people globally.
Probenecid has wide antiviral characteristics, according to a study released in Nature’s Scientific Reports, offering it a good contender for fighting not only SARS-CoV-2 infection as well as other prevalent and dangerous breathing viruses including RSV and flu.
Probenecid Used For COVID Treatment
Experts try to know the effect of various medicines on an individual profile to find a better cure for the viral infection that can lead to having quick recovery of the patient.
Probenecid is an FDA-approved medicine for the treatment of gout which is already commonly available in the United States. The medication is now on the market for more than four decades and has few negative effects.
There’s basically nothing currently there to securely fight these infections,” said Ralph Tripp, the study’s lead author and GRA Eminent Scholar of Vaccine and Therapeutic Studies in the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Georgia. “This antiviral is effective against all RNA respiratory viruses, especially SARS-CoV-2. During the same period, RSV, coronavirus, and flu all circulate. The end result is that this single oral medicine has the potential to minimize infection and disease.”
Viruses propagate and produce new viruses by enslaving a human’s own cells to do so. Probenecid inhibits the virus’s reproduction, preventing it from entering the individual’s cells. Tripp, a pharmaceutical business, demonstrated that the medicine acts as a preventive before virus infection and as a post-exposure therapy in laboratory animals against SARS-CoV-2 and flu throughout clinical development.
In vitro, the medication has shown to be effective against RSV, and in vivo tests are now underway. However the medicine would largely be administered after a person has tested positive for infection, the prophylactic data suggest that persons who have had known encounters with the virus might also benefit from it.
The present go-to medications for very unwell people with COVID-19 are limited. Remdesivir and monoclonal antibodies for COVID-19 patients could only be provided through an IV. It’s typically already late at that point a COVID patient requires them.
These medicines have shown some promise against SARS-CoV-2, but they’re prohibitively expensive and difficult to obtain, according to Tripp. “In fact, owing of the price, IV usage restrictions, and lack of availability, there are just a few solutions that can be employed.” That isn’t particularly valuable to the rest of the world. And from the opposite end, probenecid is commonly available. Patients could be prescribed a tablet by their general practitioner, which patients could obtain at their local pharmacy.
Drugs that have already been approved to treat one problem are frequently repurposed to treat another. For example, redeliver was developed to combat the Ebola virus, but after showing potential against the coronavirus, it was deployed to combat COVID-19.
Probenecid has the potential to improve the efficiency of other treatments in order to prevent sickness before it begins. Because probenecid is currently prescribed to boost the efficacy of some antibiotics, it’s likely that it could also help with other COVID-19 therapies.
The researchers are also now determining what quantity of probenecid will have the greatest benefit in combating infections in humans. By the next year, TrippBio plans to start clinical studies on the drug.
“SARS-CoV-2, RSV, and flu get a major influence on global medical systems,” Tripp added. “Probenecid is a safe and effective antiviral agent against certain viruses.”
