By Maggie Fox
They were delighted to find a drug already on the market and considered safe to use in pregnant women. “Niclosamide is an FDA-approved drug (trade name Niclocide) that has been used in humans to treat worm infections for nearly 50 years, and it is well tolerated,” the team wrote in their report, published in the journal Nature Medicine.
“It is known to inhibit several viruses in culture systems, including the Japanese encephalitis flavivirus.”
Japanese encephalitis is a relative of Zika and also carried by mosquitoes.
Tests on human brain stem cells in lab dishes showed it could interfere with Zika’s replication in those cells. “Niclosamide is a category B drug, which indicates that no risk to fetuses has been found in animal studies. It has low toxicity in mammals,” they added.
“EMRICASAN WAS WELL TOLERATED IN HUMAN TRIALS, AND THERE WERE NO SIGNIFICANT ADVERSE EVENTS.”
Another drug, called emricasan, helped prevent Zika from killing those cells.
“Emricasan is currently being evaluated in phase 2 clinical trials for the reduction of hepatic injury and liver fibrosis caused by chronic hepatitis C infection,” the team wrote.
Emricasan was well tolerated in human trials, and there were no significant adverse events.”
A third compound called PHA-690509 also helped stop Zika replicating and from killing nerve cells, they said.
While the drugs work well in lab dishes full of cells, “we don’t know if they can work in humans in the same way,” Song said.
Niclosamide works in the gut, but it’s not clear if it’s possible to get it into the brain, Song said.
The researchers think the drugs might work best as a cocktail, attacking the virus from several fronts — in much the same way as drug cocktails fight the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS.
Published by connie dello buono
Connie Dello Buono is based in Sunnyvale California. Her first ebook is about women's health, Birthing Ways Healing Ways and her recent one is about cancer prevention, Curated Healing Ways. She had helped women have holistic childbirth as childbirth educator, founded Motherhealth, to serve seniors in the bay area with holistic caregivers and blogs at www.clubalthea.com with more than 10,000 health and finance related posts.
Connie trains her own caregivers, which are the favorites of most bay area seniors who are home bound and alone.
She is active in the rehab and nursing facilities, volunteering on music and movement for seniors.
She is a member of Lion's club and offered scholarships to students in the Philippines.
She is active at churchinsunnyvale.us and has Fridays Bible home study in Sunnyvale using the recovery version of the Bible , free at biblesforamerica.us
She loves dancing and teaching and her courses can be found at
https://teachclub.com/@thriveafter60
She is California Life Insurance licensed providing life insurance for older adults with health issues and helping women retire safely with income for life.
at menloassetca.com , she helps with 401k rollover.
3 Benefit plans
- Mortgage protection using term life insurance to pay for mortgage balance in event of death
- Final Expense plan using Single Issue Whole Life Insurance, with cash back, disability benefit and guaranteed in the presence of health issues
- Fixed Index Annuity retirement plan for safe, accessibility, less fees, less taxes, avoids probate as it goes directly to beneficiaries, rate of return with no downside market participation.
She brings compassion and understanding to the needs of her clients, bringing holistic approach in health and life insurance. Her goal is to free families from worries especially during covid with caregivers and life insurance in the presence of health issues, especially for women.
She can be reached at 408-854-1883 , motherhealth@gmail.com
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