Prostate cancer treatments have been found to be effective antivirals against coronavirus and the common cold

Researchers believe that anticancer drugs derived from toxic plants may stop the progression of Covid-19.

The scholar at the University of Nottingham is Thapsigargin Coronavirus Behind the pandemics and others that cause the common cold.

The drug, which is deadly to cattle and sheep and is derived from the “deadly carrot” Thapsia plant found in the western Mediterranean, is being tested for prostate cancer.

However, researchers testing treatment in animals have discovered that it may be possible to stop the infection of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that causes COvid.

Researchers believe that the anti-cancer drug Thapsigargin, derived from the “deadly carrot” Thapsia plant (pictured), may not put Covid-19 in its orbit.

Studies have shown that it is a drug that humans can take as a pill if it proves to be effective against the cold-causing coronavirus and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). influenza.

Researchers believe that the effectiveness of the drug against various respiratory viruses is particularly helpful in coronavirus pandemics.

Rather than specifically targeting the coronavirus, antiviral agents can be used to control the development of various viruses that cause similar symptoms.

What is a “deadly carrot” Thapsia plant? How is it used in medicine?

“Fatal carrot” in full bloom Tapsia Garganica

Thapsia garganica is a flowering plant found on the western coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

This plant has long been used in traditional medicine, including Algerian painkillers.

However, due to its toxicity to sheep and cattle in ancient Greece, it gained its common name, the deadly carrot.

Thapsigargin is a compound isolated from plants and is used in cancer research.

Samuel Denmead, an oncologist at Johns Hopkins University, designed compounds from the plant for 15 years.

Cancer studies have found that drugs are effective by It passes through the cell membrane and shuts down the calcium pump.

Studies have shown that it is safe for humans at dose levels much higher than those required for anti-vral use.

Much smaller doses of medication are needed to induce an antiviral condition.

According to researchers, this broad applicability also has the potential to make the drug effective against future “disease X” pandemics.

Professor Kin-Chow Chang, one of the leading researchers, admitted that more tests were “obviously needed” -there is no evidence that it works on humans.

But he said, “the findings strongly show that Thapsigargin and its derivatives are promising antiviral treatments for covid and influenza.”

Antivirals have been found to be effective in blocking symptoms when used before or during a Petri dish test or active infection in mice.

It currently costs around £ 76 ($ 104) per mg for use in studies, but when fully produced, that cost is significantly reduced. Influenza antivirals may require 200 mg to 800 mg per dose.

Rather than harvesting directly from the plant, this compound can be easily mass-produced in the laboratory and stored without the need for quick freezing.

Antiviral drugs against coronavirus have not yet been approved, and only a handful of drugs have been shown to reduce the risk of death in critically ill patients.

Influenza-approved antiviral drugs target parts of the virus and stop or slow down the ability to make copies of itself within infected cells.

However, Thapsigargin works by eliciting a variety of host cell responses rather than targeting the virus itself.

In other words, the drug uses the natural capabilities of the immune system to better fight off viruses that cells invade.

These responses disrupt the virus replication cycle in multiple locations at the same time, preventing the virus from replicating and colonizing.

This drug is of particular value to new strains, as mutations in part of the virus’s replication cycle do not diminish its effectiveness.

Laboratory tests on the cells showed that the drug stopped the virus from making a new copy of itself within just 30 minutes and did not decline for two days.

Professor Chan said: “We are still in the early stages of research into the effects of this antiviral drug and viruses such as Covid-19 on therapeutic methods, but these discoveries are very important.

The current pandemic highlights the need for effective antiviral drugs to treat active infections and vaccines to prevent infections.

“Given that future pandemics are likely to be of animal origin, and that animals will spread zoonotic diseases (zoonoses) and reverse zoonotic diseases (zoonoses). New generation antiviral drugs, such as tapsigargin, may play an important role in control treatment of zoonotic diseases in both humans and animals.

This study was a joint project by the University of Nottingham (pictured), the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), China Agricultural University, and the Pilbright Institute.

Professor Mark Woolhouse last week suggested that another “disease X” that could cause a pandemic could be imminent-and it’s a “not when” issue.

An infectious disease epidemiology expert at the University of Edinburgh said pandemic influenza is at the top of the list of outbreak concerns, but he added that there is a full range of other viruses to watch out for.

Mr. Woolhouse said that he and other colleagues who I added Disease X to my list of preferred diseases four years ago.

He states: “I thought the next new pandemic could be a virus I didn’t know yet. Frankly, I thought it was the most likely scenario.”