COVID-19: Tokyo University of Science: Mefloquine eliminates viral cells
~ Possibility of becoming a new COVID-19 therapeutic drug ~
Summary of research:
Mefloquine:
Screening was performed on infected cell lines for already approved antiparasitic and antiprotozoal drugs.
As a result, the antimalarial drug mefloquine showed a higher antiviral effect on the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) than hydroxychloroquine.
High antiviral effect:
It inhibits the invasion process after SARS-CoV-2 is adsorbed on cells.
It was also suggested that a synergistic antiviral effect can be obtained when used in combination with nelfinavir, which inhibits viral replication.
Virus elimination reduced by 6.1 days:
From a mathematical model, it was estimated that administration of mefloquine at the concentration used in standard therapy could reduce virus clearance from the body by 6.1 days.
Study of mefloquine administration
It has shown that mefloquine is a promising candidate for the treatment of COVID-19, and further research is awaited in the future.
NEWS & EVENTS ｜ Tokyo University of Science
https://www.tus.ac.jp/today/archive/20210630_8167.html
Tokyo University of Science & Collaborators Find Mefloquine Could Target COVID-19
Recently, researchers from the Tokyo University of Science
along with scientists from the National Institute of Infectious Diseases,
Kyushu University,
The University of Tokyo,
Kyoto University,
Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research, and Science Groove Inc.have identified an anti-malarial drug, mefloquine (which is incidentally a derivative of hydrochloroquine),
that is effective against SARS-CoV-2. Their findings are published in Frontiers in Microbiology.
In a breakthrough study,a team of scientists
identified mefloquine as the drug with the highest anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity among the tested compounds.
In fact, when comparing in a lab environment—that is, study in cell line involving humanized lung cells,
the drug was superior to other quinoline derivatives such as hydroxychloroquine.
The team further explored mefloquine’s mechanism of action.
Dr. Watashi explains the process,
In our cell assays, mefloquine readily reduced the viral RNA levels when applied at the viral entry phase but showed no activity during virus-cell attachment.
This shows that mefloquine is effective on SARS-COV-2 entry into cells after attachment on cell surface.