The “Unexpected” Reason Why COVID Antivirals Don’t Work
The coronavirus triggers a unique inflammatory pathway in the lungs
Purdue University researchers have made a breakthrough finding that could explain why the disease is so hard to manage therapeutically. In what was described as a surprising discovery, they found that a specific immune pathway activated in the lung tissue during COVID infection contributes to hyper-inflammation in severe cases, rendering standard antivirals ineffective.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, scientists have been scrambling to identify antiviral drugs to treat COVID patients with severe and life-threatening symptoms. Unfortunately, until now, this search has dug up very few viable options. Antivirals such as Remdesivir and Ruxolitinib are notoriously ineffective at treating COVID patients.
To understand why these drugs fall short, Purdue University computer science expert Majid Kazemian and colleagues took a closer look at the gene expression fingerprints left by SARS-CoV-2 infections. The team made the unexpected observation that small immune proteins, typically synthesized by the liver, were being produced in the fine structures of the lung known as alveoli. These proteins, part of the immune complement system, normally help the antibodies combat infectious pathogens.
