Amiodarone as a possible therapy for coronavirus infection.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Aimo A
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7928952 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Similar Datasets
Project description:Coronaviruses such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and influenza viruses increase oxidative stress in the body leading to cellular and tissue damage. To combat this, administration of high-dose vitamin C (ascorbic acid or ascorbate), in addition to standard conventional supportive treatments, has been shown to be a safe and effective therapy for severe cases of respiratory viral infection. Morbidity, mortality, infectiveness and spread of infectious diseases are dependent on the host-pathogen relationship. Given the lack of effective and safe antiviral drugs for coronaviruses, there should be more attention in supporting host immune defence, cytoprotection and immunoregulation. Implementation of high-dose vitamin C therapy could dramatically reduce the need for high doses of corticosteroids, antibacterials and antiviral drugs that may be immunosuppressive, adrenal depressive and toxic, complicating the disease course. In order to effectively fight the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus, medical professionals should explore readily available pharmaceutical and nutritional therapeutic agents with proven antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and immunosupportive properties. Supplemental vitamin C may also provide additional benefits for the prevention of viral infections, shorten the disease course and lessen complications of the disease.
| S-EPMC7553131 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) as well as nontuberculous mycobacteria are intracellular pathogens whose treatment is extensive and increasingly impaired due to the rise of mycobacterial drug resistance. The loss of antibiotic efficacy has raised interest in the identification of host-directed therapeutics (HDT) to develop novel treatment strategies for mycobacterial infections. In this study, we identified amiodarone as a potential HDT candidate that inhibited both intracellular Mtb and Mycobacterium avium in primary human macrophages without directly impairing bacterial growth, thereby confirming that amiodarone acts in a host-mediated manner. Moreover, amiodarone induced the formation of (auto)phagosomes and enhanced autophagic targeting of mycobacteria in macrophages. The induction of autophagy by amiodarone is likely due to enhanced transcriptional regulation, as the nuclear intensity of the transcription factor EB, the master regulator of autophagy and lysosomal biogenesis, was strongly increased. Furthermore, blocking lysosomal degradation with bafilomycin impaired the host-beneficial effect of amiodarone. Finally, amiodarone induced autophagy and reduced bacterial burden in a zebrafish embryo model of tuberculosis, thereby confirming the HDT activity of amiodarone in vivo. In conclusion, we have identified amiodarone as an autophagy-inducing antimycobacterial HDT that improves host control of mycobacterial infections.ImportanceDue to the global rise in antibiotic resistance, there is a strong need for alternative treatment strategies against intracellular bacterial infections, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) and non-tuberculous mycobacteria. Stimulating host defense mechanisms by host-directed therapy (HDT) is a promising approach for treating mycobacterial infections. This study identified amiodarone, an antiarrhythmic agent, as a potential HDT candidate that inhibits the survival of Mtb and Mycobacterium avium in primary human macrophages. The antimycobacterial effect of amiodarone was confirmed in an in vivo tuberculosis model based on Mycobacterium marinum infection of zebrafish embryos. Furthermore, amiodarone induced autophagy and inhibition of the autophagic flux effectively impaired the host-protective effect of amiodarone, supporting that activation of the host (auto)phagolysosomal pathway is essential for the mechanism of action of amiodarone. In conclusion, we have identified amiodarone as an autophagy-inducing HDT that improves host control of a wide range of mycobacteria.
| S-EPMC11302041 | biostudies-literature
Project description: Not available
| S-EPMC8092184 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Epigenetics is a relatively new field of science that studies the genetic and non-genetic aspects related to heritable phenotypic changes, frequently caused by environmental and metabolic factors. In the host, the epigenetic machinery can regulate gene expression through a series of reversible epigenetic modifications, such as histone methylation and acetylation, DNA/RNA methylation, chromatin remodeling, and non-coding RNAs. The coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) is a highly transmittable and pathogenic viral infection. The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which emerged in Wuhan, China, and spread worldwide, causes it. COVID-19 severity and consequences largely depend on patient age and health status. In this review, we will summarize and comparatively analyze how viruses regulate the host epigenome. Mainly, we will be focusing on highly pathogenic respiratory RNA virus infections such as coronaviruses. In this context, epigenetic alterations might play an essential role in the onset of coronavirus disease complications. Although many therapeutic approaches are under study, more research is urgently needed to identify effective vaccine or safer chemotherapeutic drugs, including epigenetic drugs, to cope with this viral outbreak and to develop pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis against COVID-19.
| S-EPMC7576975 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Although human coronavirus (HCoV)-NL63 was once considered a possible causative agent of Kawasaki disease based on RT-PCR analyses, subsequent studies could not confirm the result. In this study, this possibility was explored using serological tests. To evaluate the role of HCoV infection in patients with Kawasaki disease, immunofluorescence assays and virus neutralizing tests were performed. Paired serum samples were obtained from patients with Kawasaki disease who had not been treated with γ-globulin. HCoV-NL63 and two antigenically different isolates of HCoV-229E (ATCC-VR740 and a new isolate, Sendai-H) were examined as controls. Immunofluorescence assays detected no difference in HCoV-NL63 antibody positivity between the patients with Kawasaki disease and controls, whereas the rate of HCoV-229E antibody positivity was higher in the patients with Kawasaki disease than that in controls. The neutralizing tests revealed no difference in seropositivity between the acute and recovery phases of patients with Kawasaki disease for the two HCoV-229Es. However, the Kawasaki disease specimens obtained from patients in recovery phase displayed significantly higher positivity for Sendai-H, but not for ATCC-VR740, as compared to the controls. The serological test supported no involvement of HCoV-NL63 but suggested the possible involvement of HCoV-229E in the development of Kawasaki disease.
| S-EPMC7166330 | biostudies-literature
Project description: Not available
| S-EPMC9170550 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundImplantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) therapy significantly prolongs life in patients at increased risk for sudden death from depressed left ventricular function. However, whether this increased longevity is accompanied by deterioration in the quality of life is unclear.MethodsIn a randomized trial, we compared ICD therapy or amiodarone with state-of-the-art medical therapy alone in 2521 patients who had stable heart failure with depressed left ventricular function. We prospectively measured quality of life at baseline and at months 3, 12, and 30; data collection was 93 to 98% complete. The Duke Activity Status Index (which measures cardiac physical functioning) and the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Mental Health Inventory 5 (which measures psychological well-being) were prespecified primary outcomes. Multiple additional quality-of-life outcomes were also examined.ResultsPsychological well-being in the ICD group, as compared with medical therapy alone, was significantly improved at 3 months (P=0.01) and at 12 months (P=0.003) but not at 30 months. No clinically or statistically significant differences in physical functioning among the study groups were observed. Additional quality-of-life measures were improved in the ICD group at 3 months, 12 months, or both, but there was no significant difference at 30 months. ICD shocks in the month preceding a scheduled assessment were associated with a decreased quality of life in multiple domains. The use of amiodarone had no significant effects on the primary quality-of-life outcomes.ConclusionsIn a large primary-prevention population with moderately symptomatic heart failure, single-lead ICD therapy was not associated with any detectable adverse quality-of-life effects during 30 months of follow-up.
| S-EPMC2823628 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Our goal of this study was to perform quantitative and global assessment of EBV gene expression in gastric carcinomas and assess EBV associated cellular pathway alterations. Examination of a gastric carcinoma cell line naturally infected with EBV, SNU-719 using poly-A and ribodepletion RNA-seq data sets
2013-06-23 | E-GEOD-45453 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:The recent global pandemic created by the Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, started in Wuhan, China in December 2019, has generated panic, both in term of human death (4-5% of infected patients identified through testing) and the global economy. Human sufferings seem to be continuing, and it is not clear how long this will continue and how much more destruction it is going to cause until complete control is achieved. One of the most disturbing issues is Covid-19 treatment; although a large number of medications, previously used successfully with other viruses (including Chinese herbal medicines and anti-malaria drugs), are under consideration, there remain questions as to whether they can play a satisfactory role for this disease. Global attempts are ongoing to find the drugs for the treatment of this virus but none of the antiviral drugs used for treatment of other human viral infection is working and hence attempts to find new drugs are continuing. Here the author is proposing that 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) which when used on its own is failing as an antiviral agent due to the removal of this compound by proof reading ability exceptionally found in Coronaviruses. The author here is proposing to test 5-FU in combination with a number of deoxynucleosides on animal models infected with this Covid-19. Should encouraging results ensue, therapies could then be tried on patients.
| S-EPMC7194918 | biostudies-literature
Project description: Not available
| S-EPMC7318839 | biostudies-literature