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28 April 2021
These are certain macrolide antibiotics, including clarithromycin and azithromycin.
Research by the University of Valencia (UV) and the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) has shown that certain antibiotics can prevent the entry of SARS-CoV-2 into cells.
These are certain macrolide antibiotics (used in respiratory tract infections), among which are clarithromycin and azithromycin, as reported by the academic institution.
The work carried out by the Drug Design and Molecular Topology Unit group of the University of Valencia and led by the professor of Physical Chemistry Jorge Galvez, It has been published in the North American journal Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling.
The group already published a pioneering article in March 2020, in which these antibiotics were proposed as drugs that could be used to Treat the Covid-19, although this prediction was based only on theoretical computational calculations.
The method was based on molecular topology, a part of mathematical chemistry that deals with the algebraic description of chemical compounds, which allows them to be easily characterized.
Now, in collaboration with researchers from the National Center for Biotechnology, CSIC, they have demonstrated with their study that these antibiotics are capable of preventing the entry of the virus 'in vitro' through the deactivation of the well-known spike protein.
The group has had the collaboration of José María Benlloch Baviera (CSIC), coordinator of the treatment and vaccines area of the PTI Global Health platform for the development of CSIC treatments and vaccines.
Currently, of the antibiotics identified by the Drug Design and Molecular Topology Unit of the University of Valencia, one of them (azithromycin) is part of the list of medicines considered essential by the Ministry of Health in the management of the health crisis caused by covid-19.
Another of them, specifically clarithromycin, has already scheduled a clinical trial led by the San Carlos Clinical Hospital in Madrid, the start of which is expected shortly with covid patients from 20 Social Security primary care centers.
To confirm the computational results of the initial phase, the best candidates were tested against two human coronaviruses (229E-GFP and SARS-CoV-2) in cell culture.
Infection experiments demonstrated that azithromycin, clarithromycin and lexithromycin reduce intracellular accumulation of viral RNA and virus spread, as well as prevent cell death induced by the virus, by inhibiting the entry of SARS-CoV-2 into cells.
