RMIT scientists in Melbourne have led an international collaboration that potentially unlocks better treatment of viral diseases, including the flu and common cold.
The results were published in the prestigious scientific and medical journal Nature Communications.
Each year the flu virus sends 13,500 Australians to hospital and causes more than 3000 deaths among those aged over 50. The global burden is also staggering, with more than 5 million cases of infection annually with up to 10 per cent resulting in death.
The RMIT senior authors, Dr Stavros Selemidis (ARC Future Fellow) and Dr Eunice To (first author), collaborated with Professor Doug Brooks from University South Australia, Professor John O’Leary from Trinity College Dublin, Monash University’s Professor Christopher Porter, and other scientists and clinicians to investigate how viruses cause disease in humans.
The researchers discovered that a 1.5 billion-year-old cell biological process found in plants, fungi and mammals enhances viral disease in mice and highly likely also in humans. They identified a protein, Nox2 oxidase, that is activated by viruses, including influenza, rhinovirus (the common cold), dengue and HIV.
Once activated, Nox2 oxidase suppresses the body’s key antiviral reaction and its ability to fight and clear the viral infection, which in turn results in a stronger or more virulent disease in mice.
The study also investigated a new prototype drug to treat these debilitating viral diseases.
The researchers found that the Nox2 oxidase protein activated by the viruses is located in a cell compartment called endosomes. They carefully modified a chemical that inhibits or restrains the activity of Nox2 oxidase.
Their customised drug was found to be very effective at suppressing disease caused by influenza infection.
Selemidis, head of the Oxidant and Inflammation Biology Group within the Chronic Infectious and Inflammatory Diseases program at RMIT, said: “Current treatment strategies are limited as they specifically target circulating viruses and have either unknown or very little effect against new viruses that enter the human population.
“We have identified a protein of the immune system that contributes to the disease caused by flu viruses irrespective of their strain.
“We also developed a novel drug delivery system to target this protein, which drastically alleviated the burden of viral disease.
“The strength of this work is the multidisciplinary approach taken and the degree of collaboration. It includes researchers and clinicians from eight universities across Australia, the United States and Ireland.
“This work attracted considerable interest at the NADPH Oxidase GORDON conference in the USA last year.”
To said: “This work identifies a treatment strategy that has the potential to alleviate the symptoms caused by some of the most devastating viruses worldwide, including the flu.”
Learn more: New research points to treatment breakthrough for viruses
The Latest on: Viral diseases
[google_news title=”” keyword=”viral diseases” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
- Risk of infectious illnesses over holiday warns China CDCon April 26, 2024 at 10:42 pm
China's COVID epidemic has maintained at a low level overall with infection waves occuring from time to time. "But the novel coronavirus is still mutating and the risk of a resurgence remains," it ...
- Early test results show pasteurized milk with traces of H5N1 virus isn’t infectious, FDA sayson April 26, 2024 at 3:32 pm
Early tests of pasteurized milk – purchased at grocery stores in areas with cows that have tested positive for H5N1 influenza or bird flu – suggest that it is not infectious and wouldn’t be able to ...
- One in Five Milk Samples Has Bird Flu Virus Fragments, Suggesting Cow Infections Are More Widespread Than Thoughton April 26, 2024 at 2:12 pm
The research has not yet found evidence that milk contains infectious virus, and the FDA says the commercial milk supply is safe ...
- Common antibiotic Neosporin may shield against viral respiratory infectionson April 26, 2024 at 9:00 am
A study conducted first in mice and then in human volunteers suggests that a common antibiotic, neomycin, which is the main active ingredient in Neosporin, may help protect against viral respiratory ...
- Bird flu virus in milk poses challenges for dairy industryon April 26, 2024 at 8:47 am
The discovery of fragments of avian flu virus in milk sold in U.S. stores, including in about 20% of samples in initial testing, suggests that the H5N1 virus may be more widespread in dairy cattle ...
- First confirmed case of rare, tick-borne Powassan virus reported in Mass. townon April 26, 2024 at 6:47 am
For the first time, a confirmed case of Powassan virus has been reported in Sharon and public health officials are warning residents to take precautions against the tick-borne disease.
- Owlstone secures $6.5M for breath-based diagnostics for infectious diseaseon April 26, 2024 at 5:40 am
Owlstone Medical has secured a $5 million equity investment and initial $1.5 million grant funding, committed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, for development of breath-based diagnostic ...
- Former anti-vaxxer addresses infectious disease conference in Normalon April 25, 2024 at 3:30 pm
Heather Simpson was the keynote speaker Wednesday at the Illinois Department of Public Health’s infectious disease conference at Illinois State University.
- Infectious diseases conference kicks off at ISU; speakers talk about need for vaccineson April 23, 2024 at 3:58 pm
Hundreds of people gathered at Illinois State University to attend the state’s annual conference on infectious diseases. Dubbed “Emerging Stronger: 2024 ...
- On Earth Day, Climate Change’s Impact On Infectious Diseases Loomson April 22, 2024 at 9:08 am
From dengue to Zika to malaria, climate change is altering the impact of infectious diseases throughout the world. A robust surveillance system may help.
via Google News and Bing News