Tutankhamun ’s Antimalarial Drug for Covid-19

Drug Res (Stuttg) DOI: 10.1055/a-1274-1264Drug repositioning is a strategy that identifies new uses of approved drugs
to treat conditions different from their original purpose. Current efforts
to treat Covid-19 are based on this strategy. The first drugs used in
patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 were antimalarial drugs. It is their
mechanism of action, i. e., rise in endosomal pH, which recommends
them against the new coronavirus. Disregarding their side effects, the study
of their antiviral activity provides valuable hints for the choice and
design of drugs against SARS-CoV-2. One prominent drug candidate is
thymoquinone, an antimalarial substance contained in Nigella sativa
– most likely one of the first antimalarial drugs in human history.
Since the outbreak of the pandemic, the number of articles relating
thymoquinone to Covid-19 continuously increases. Here, we use it as an
exemplary model drug, compare its antiviral mechanism with that of
conventional antimalarial drugs and establish an irreducible parametric
scheme for the identification of drugs with a potential in
Covid-19.Translation into the laboratory is simple. Starting with the
discovery of Nigella sativa seeds in the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, we
establish a physicochemical model for the interaction of th...

Source: Drug Research - October 30, 2020 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Authors: Sommer, Andrei P. F örsterling, Horst-Dieter Sommer, Katlin E. Tags: Original Article Source Type: research