EMBO Mol Med: Breakthrough! Rheumatoid arthritis drugs have efficacy against COVID-19!

, June 17, 2020 /PRNewswire
/ -- An international team of researchers, including researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, suggests that arheumatoid arthritisdrug called baritinib may be reused to treat patients with COVID-19The findings, published in the journal EMBO Molecular Medicine, represent an example of how artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms can help identify existing drugs as potential treatments for new diseasesBaritinib is an oral drug that is used once a day to treatof moderate, severerheumatoid arthritis in adultsIt is an inhibitor of janus kinase (JAK), an enzyme that acts as an "on" or "off" in many cellular functionsThe drug, which works by interfering with the inflammatory process escent of the immune system, is considered a potential therapeutic candidate for COVID-19Photo Source: In the study, researchers used AI algorithms to identify existing drugs that can prevent inflammation and infectionBaritinib has been identified as a promising candidate for COVID-19 because it inhibits cytokine activity and viral transmissionlaboratory trials andclinical trialsstudy
in test tubes and 3D human microlivers, the drug has been found to inhibit the signaling of cytokines and immune system proteins known to overreact and cause inflammation in cases of severe COVID-19 infectionsIt also helps to reduce the load of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19, as well as the level of the signaling molecule leukin-6 (IL-6), which is the predictor of COVID-19-related acute respiratory distress syndrome mortalitya small pilot study of three men and one woman with bilateral COVID-19 pneumonia was conducted in Milan, Italy, in addition to laboratory testsAfter 10-12 days of treatment with Baritinib, symptoms and signs improved in all four patients, such as cough, fever, reduced viral load and plasma IL-6 levelscan reduce inflammation and viral load" overall, these data suggest that baritinib may reduce inflammation and viral load in COVID-19," said Ali Mirazimi, associate professor in the Department of Examining Medicine at the Karolinska Institute, who led the functional virus studyfurther trials of baritinib are being conducted at three hospitals in northern and central Italy, with encouraging preliminary results,researchers said"We are integrating and carefully analyzing these trial data and providing follow-up studies of functions and mechanisms to examine the role patterns of Baritinib in detail," said Volker Lauschke, associate professor of personalized medicine and drug development at the Karolinska Institute in Physiology and Pharmacology, who led the functional testing of Barritinib(biovalleybioon.com)reference:Rheumatoid arthritis drug show promise against ST COVID-19, finds
Justin Stebbing et al.
Mechanism of the baricitinib supports artificial intelligence -predicted testing in COVID-19 patients, EMBO Molecular Medicine (2020)DOI: 10.15252/emmm.202012697