H5N1 News: Researchers From Georgia State University Discover That 4’-Fluorouridine Can Be Used As An Effective Antiviral Against H5N1 Infections
H5N1 News - 4’-Fluorouridine May 13, 2023 1 year, 7 months, 1 week, 2 days, 14 hours, 52 minutes ago
H5N1 News: In a world where the threat of pandemics looms large, and seasonal influenza continues to claim lives, scientists at Georgia State University Institute for Biomedical Sciences have made a significant breakthrough. The team has uncovered the potential of 4’-Fluorouridine (4’-FlU) as an effective antiviral, capable of combating lethal infections from both human and highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses, including the feared H5N1 avian flu virus.
Picture this: influenza, or simply the flu, is not just your typical run-of-the-mill fever. It's a potentially life-threatening illness that hits hard and fast, causing a high fever, body aches, and a host of other debilitating symptoms. The worst part? The most at risk are children, the elderly, pregnant women, and those with pre-existing conditions. Unfortunately, our current defenses against the flu, including the seasonal influenza vaccine, have a moderate efficacy at best, with a success rate of 40 to 60% even under optimal conditions.
The situation worsens during flu pandemics. Over the past 500 years, we've seen about 14 influenza pandemics, six of which occurred in the last 120 years. Remember the infamous "Spanish Flu" pandemic in 1918? That was caused by an H1N1 subtype influenza virus that infected nearly a third of the world's population and led to approximately 50 million deaths. Latest
H5N1 News updates show that we are just a one or two steps away from the H5N1 evolving to infect humans more effectively and cause human to human transmissions.
https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/breaking-canadian-scientists-warn-about-existing-highly-lethal-h5n1-avian-influenza-reassortant-strains-circulating-in-north-america
In the face of these persistent threats, researchers have been tirelessly hunting for effective therapeutics to manage this disease, especially in vulnerable patient groups. The recent discovery of 4’-FlU’s potential marks a crucial turning point in this endeavor.
The study team demonstrated the efficacy of 4’-FlU, a broad-spectrum nucleoside analog, against a panel of influenza viruses in cell culture, human airway epithelium (HAE) cells, and two animal models - ferrets and mice.
Remarkably, a once-daily oral treatment with 4’-FlU proved effective against lethal infection with seasonal and highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses. It also prevented viral transmission to untreated sentinels and significantly alleviated lethal infection in immunocompromised hosts.
What makes 4’-FlU a game-changer in influenza treatment? For starters, it acts as an immediate chain terminator of the influenza virus polymerase. This means it's effective in halting the replication of the virus, thereby reducing the severity of the infection.
Secondly, treatment with 4’-FlU resulted in an unprecedented complete survival of all treated animals even when the inhibitor was first administered as late as 60 hours af
ter infection. This substantially widened therapeutic time window may revolutionize influenza therapy.
The study team also addressed potential concerns about the impact of 4’-FlU on the quality of the antiviral immune response. Their findings showed that while 4’-FlU treatment led to an alleviated pro-inflammatory response, each of the treated animals had mounted a robust humoral response, implying the immune system was still functioning effectively.
Moreover, 4’-FlU significantly reduced upper respiratory tract virus load and viral shedding, resulting in fully suppressed spread to untreated direct-contact sentinels in the highly sensitive ferret transmission model. If this holds true in humans, this could mean a potential pharmacological block or mitigation of transmission - an invaluable asset in the fight against the spread of influenza.
The study's findings also offer a beacon of hope for the immunocompromised and those infected with zoonotic HPAI viruses. Treatment with 4’-FlU mediated complete survival of all animals in both groups, underscoring powerful antiviral activity that does not strictly depend on a fully immunocompetent host to clear the infection.
The study team states that 4’-FlU meets key efficacy requirements of a next-generation antiviral clinical candidate that strengthens pandemic preparedness and provides a much-needed alternative option for management of seasonal and pandemic influenza viruses especially with the impending H5N1 pandemic.
The study findings were published in the peer reviewed journal: PLOS Pathogens.
https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1011342
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