SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – Recent research looks at a new way to prevent and treat COVID-19, by understanding how the virus uses proteins in the body to copy itself – and possibly block those proteins.
For more, stream KCBS Radio now.
There are typically two approaches to combatting infectious diseases like COVID-19, which are not mutually exclusive.
The first way is to try and target the virus, picking virus proteins to target, which is what paxlovid does. But these are viruses that rely on the proteins in the host cell to live.
"If you can find vulnerable points of attack, one can inhibit those host proteins and thereby, really inhibit the virus as well," said Dr. Warner Greene, a senior investigator at the Gladstone Institutes and a professor of medicine, microbiology and immunology at UCSF on KCBS Radio's "Ask an Expert" with Melissa Culross on Monday.
"A combination of therapies that target the virus as well as the host may be the most productive," he said.
A few studies have been published recently regarding this type of approach, although one has not yet been peer-reviewed. Regardless, it wouldn't take long for this sort of treatment to become available, according to Greene.
But there is some concern within the scientific community about how interfering with the body's own proteins might have risky consequences.
"If you block their action, you interfere with their normal function, that could create toxic effects," he said.
An example of this is chemotherapy, which can have extreme effects on those undergoing the treatment.
The advantage of this type of treatment though is that the treatment doesn’t have to be very long, according to Greene.
The shorter timespan means a person’s ability to tolerate any toxic effects might be a bit higher.
So far, the National Institutes of Health has only funded viral-targeted treatments, like paxlovid, with no significant signs that there might be interest in pursuing host-targeted treatments.
The treatment of Hepatitis C paved the way for support for viral-targeted treatments. The disease was initially treated with a host-targeted formula, but when a virus-focused formula was produced that eventually paved the way for a cure, attention became fixed on this type of treatment.
"I think the pendulum will swing back and forth," said Greene. "I think there are opportunities in COVID-19 to target the host cell with great benefit."
DOWNLOAD the Audacy App
SIGN UP and follow KCBS Radio
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Related
