According to new research, the engineered ACE2 decoy protein can work effectively to avoid severe outcomes in Covid patients. The good news is that it can work effectively against multiple variants. Researchers from Chicago are working on this drug treatment that offers hope for several vulnerable patients.
Engineered ACE2 Decoy Protects Against Multiple SARS-CoV 2 Variants
Even though we have many vaccines for Covid-19, it is still important to develop treatment options so that they can be used for people who catch the infection. It is important to understand that vaccines do not offer complete protection in every situation.
Apart from that, there is a risk of the virus mutating enough to avoid vaccine immunity. This has already happened in the case of the Omicron variant, where it has already infected vaccinated people. Even though the symptoms are mild in most cases, this is a matter of concern as it proved that vaccines are foolproof in the case of Covid variants.
Apart from that, it is also important to note that not every person in the US is vaccinated. Nearly 30% of the population is yet to get a single dose of vaccine. This is not due to the lack of vaccines but mostly due to negligence and vaccine hesitancy among the public.
While some people are careless about moving around without vaccine protection, others are afraid to get vaccines due to fear of side effects in the long run. All these reasons have resulted in a situation where we have millions of unvaccinated people in the country.
These people are still vulnerable to catching Covid infection, and proper methods to treat them should be developed to avoid a huge load on the health system. Yet another category of people is immuno-compromised, and they cannot derive any benefits from vaccination. They are vulnerable to infections, and having proper treatment options will be beneficial for such patients.
Health experts think that multiple treatment options should be available so that doctors can choose the appropriate method depending on the overall health condition of the patient. Apart from this, it is also important to understand that some treatment methods work well only in the initial stages, and they are ineffective in the advanced stages.
In this study, the researchers used engineered ACE2 protein that can bind itself successfully to the spike protein in coronavirus. In this way, the spike protein of coronavirus will not be able to bind itself to the natural cells of our body easily. The engineered proteins will engage the spike protein of coronavirus and protect the natural cells of the body from infection.
When the experiment was conducted on mice, significant improvement was seen in those affected with severe complications of coronavirus. Even in the advanced stages, the mortality rate was reduced, and recovery was seen after using the treatment.
As part of the experiment, the scientists even exposed the mice to gamma variant, and similar results were seen in that case. This gives a lot of hope for the health experts as the treatment can be effective against multiple variants. In this way, this can work effectively even against future mutations of the coronavirus.
According to experts, the drug can be used alongside other drugs to prevent the multiplication of Covid spike protein in the body during an infection. The medication can be provided through IV or direct inhalation method.
If the research succeeds in human trials in the future, it will open new doors for treating Covid infections in the long run. As the virus continues to mutate into new variants, such treatments are the need of the hour to control the pandemic.
