Researchers are gradually turning to already approved drugs as COVID-19 proves a tough enemy. Scientists are working meticulously on new drugs vaccines and, but when there comes a challenge of dealing with a novel disease- it is bound to take time
An international team of researchers, for the first time, has recommended the treatment of coronavirus infected patients with interferons. It is worth mentioning that interferons is a type of antiviral drug that has been used clinically for years. In a limited, non-randomized study , the research team showed interferons significantly accelerated viral clearance and also lowered the levels of inflammatory proteins in moderately ill COVID-19 patients.
Interferons, a group of signaling proteins released by the body in response to all viruses, are considered humans’ first line of defense against viruses. Going back to the SARS outbreak of 2002, the research team was successful in demonstrating its therapeutic benefit to the SARS affected patients. This has given new hopes for the treatment of COVID-19 patients through interferon therapy.
“Rather than developing a virus-specific antiviral for each new virus outbreak, I would argue that we should consider interferons as the ‘first responders’ in terms of treatment,” said Eleanor Fish, emerita scientist at the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute and study author. “Interferons have been approved for clinical use for many years, so the strategy would be to ‘repurpose’ them for severe acute virus infections.”
The current study evaluated 77 patients with moderate COVID-19 symptoms admitted to hospitals in Wuhan, China between January 16 and February 20, 2020. The results suggest interferon (IFN)- α2b accelerates viral clearance by 7.6 days when compared to other drugs.
Patients treated with arbidol (ARB), a broad-spectrum, indole-based antiviral compound, achieved viral clearance in a mean of 28 days. Meanwhile, patients treated with IFN alone cleared the virus in 21 days, and patients treated with IFN combined with ARB cleared the virus the fastest—20 days from onset of symptoms. It was diligently found by the research team that IFN lowered the blood levels of interleukin(IL)-6 and C-reactive protein (CRP); which are the two inflammatory proteins specifically observed in the COVID-19 patients.
