Asthma drug found effective against COVID-19; here’s how it works  

Researchers from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru have revealed that a drug used in asthma – Montelukast— can reduce SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, from replicating in human immune cells. The drug, used to reduce inflammation and make breathing easier for asthma patients, has been found effective against coronavirus.

“SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of severe coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, is an enveloped positive-strand RNA-contaning virus and belongs to beta coronavirus family,” as per the study published in eLife journal.

The study notes that the drug strongly binds to one end of a SARS-CoV-2 Nsp1, one of the first viral proteins unleashed inside human cells. This protein binds to the ribosomes in the protein-making machinery inside our immune cells and shut down the synthesis of vital proteins required by the immune system, thereby weakening it.

It furthermore states, “The rescue of shutdown of host protein synthesis machinery by montelukast seems to contribute toward the antiviral activity of the drug; however, further experiments would be essential to figure out detailed mechanism of its antiviral activity.”

Researchers checked over 1,600 US FDA-approved drugs in order to find the ones that bound strongly to Nsp1 using computational modeling. They shortlisted drugs like montelukast and anti-HIV drug saquinavir to understand the stability of Nsp1. The team cultured human cells that produced Nsp1 in the lab and treated them with montelukast and saquinavir separately.

Department of Molecular Reproduction Assistant Professor Tanweer Hussain said in a statement, “There are two aspects: one is affinity and the other is stability. The anti-HIV drug (saquinavir) showed good affinity, but not good stability. Monetlukast, on the other hand, was found to bind strongly and stably to Nsp1, allowing the host cells to resume normal protein synthesis.”

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