Institut Pasteur Preclinical Study
Ivermectin a Powerful Immunomodulatory Drug Targeting SARS-CoV-2
A prestigious global research institute based in France
has published a preclinical study in EMBO Molecular Medicine revealing that
ivermectin is associated with a reduction in COVID-19 symptoms.
Yet even after dozens of studies showcasing such results in real-world scenarios,
the World Health Organization (WHO)
has yet to embrace the opportunity of the drug for low-and middle-income countries (LMICs).Institut Pasteur’s
Jean-Pierre Changeuxsuggests the drug acts on the nicotinic receptor, leading to what undoubtedly will fuel an interesting debate on the topic.
In a comprehensive preclinical study involving hamsters, the study team
concluded that ivermectin represents a powerful immunomodulatory drug, implying that it could help the world in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
The study results reveal that the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin
prevents clinical deterioration, reduces olfactory deficit, and limits the inflammation of the upper and lower respiratory tracts in the study animals.
The investigators recommend consideration of the drug as a means to combat COVID-19.
The authors summarized that
the pandemic also necessitates a “search for immunomodulatory drugs that could improve disease outcome.”
In a preclinical hamster study,
the scientists at the Pasteur Instituteshowcased that the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin
prevents clinical deterioration,
reduces olfactory deficit,and limits the inflammation of the upper and lower respiratory tracts in SARS-CoV-2-infected hamsters.
The preclinical investigators in France
reported that the drug didn’t affect viral load in the infected animals’ airways.Moreover, after conducting transcriptomic analyses of infected lungs,
scientists there report that
ivermectin dampens type 1 interferon responses while modulating a number of additional inflammatory pathways.
Noteworthy, they reported that
ivermectin “dramatically reduces the Il-6/Il-10 ratio in lung tissue and promotes macrophage M2 polarization, which might account for the more favorable clinical presentation of IVM-treated animals.”