<
https://theconversation.com/host-directed-therapy-could-treat-infectious-diseases-including-covid-and-limit-drug-resistance-170647>
"Antibiotics, together with antivirals and anti-parasitic drugs, can save the
lives of people who’ve contracted an infectious disease. But the rise of
drug-resistance means new strategies are needed. At the end of last year, the
World Health Organization declared antimicrobial resistance one of the top ten
global public health threats facing humanity.
To cause disease, all viruses – including SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID – must
enter our cells and hijack their machinery to reproduce. Likewise, many
bacteria and parasites must invade our cells to survive.
One promising area of research is based on the idea that, rather than fighting
the pathogen (or bug) itself, we can target enzymes (proteins in human cells
that facilitate chemical reactions) it needs to live and multiply. This is
called “host-directed therapy”.
Our latest work suggests it could fight malaria and viral infections.
Host-directed therapy could also help control pandemic diseases like COVID."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
