Extensive research for Covid-19 treatment is going on around the world to find any ways to treat the infection. Recently, an already existing drug showed a positive response against the infection. Molnupiravir, an antiviral drug originally formulated for influenza treatment shows significant results in laboratory trials.
The study appeared in the journal Nature which shows that this drug significantly lowered the number of coronavirus particles in mice. Also, this drug prevented Covid-19 in the animal models if administered 12 hours before exposing the animal to the virus.
The mice also received the drug every twelve hours after contracting the virus. The first trial of this drug showed a highly positive response and the next phases of trials will complete in the next month.
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Apart from this study, researchers are also investigating the effect of molnupiravir on viral shedding. Viral shedding refers to the number of infectious particles an infected person releases into the air. This will help the researchers understand the ability of the virus to spread among individuals.
Currently, researchers have found only one Covid-19 treatment that helps speed up the recovery of coronavirus patients. Remdesivir also helped reduce the number of deaths due to severe coronavirus infection.
The researchers administered molnupiravir in mice after one or two days of exposure to the novel coronavirus. According to the researchers, this drug remarkably reduced the number of infectious particles in the mice.
They also found that the drug reduces the number of particles by 96% when administered after 48 hours of viral exposure. Moreover, they also tested the ability of this drug in the prevention of coronavirus infection.
The researchers found that this drug can also help treat the infections caused by viruses similar to the coronavirus. This drug shows promising results against viruses transmitted from bats including MERS and SARS virus.
For this research, the scientists adapted the mouse models to accept the human coronavirus. This new model proved helpful to test the efficacy of drugs against viral infections.
The researchers used the lung tissue from humans and implanted it in the mice to make them more susceptible to the coronavirus infection. Therefore, the virus replicated in mice the same way as it replicates in the human lungs.
The researchers also found that several viruses related to the coronavirus can replicate in this new model. This system opens new doors to the testing in animal models and adds a new approach to test the antiviral drugs in mice.
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This model can also help compare the infection more clearly between ice and animals and thus provide significant results.
The promising findings from this study in the Covid-19 treatment can provide a new drug to treat the coronavirus infection. Not only did researchers found evidence for the treatment, but they also found that this drug can help prevent the infection as well.
Upon exposure to the virus, the lung tissue showed similar damage and response as a person infected with the coronavirus. Hence, the findings from this study best represent the condition of a real human lung.
