A compound in traditional Chinese medicine for lowering blood pressure has been found to be effective in blocking the Ebola virus, according to new research.
Laboratory tests have shown the compound, tetrandrine, blocks infection of human white blood cells and prevented the disease in mice according to the study published in the journal Science. More research, including on primates, must be carried out before it can be tested on humans.
To infect a cell, the Ebola virus must be carried deep within it in order to break out of bubble-like intracellular transport structures called endosomes that carry the virus within the cell.
The researchers identified channels that are important in controlling the movement of the "bubbles" within cells. These are known as "two-pore channels". The study showed that tetrandrine blocked these channels, effectively imprisoning the virus inside the "bubbles" so it could not actually infect the cell.
"The virus is then trapped in the bubble and cannot escape. It is then detoured to be destroyed," said Robert Davey, a virologist from the United States who took part in the study.
Tetrandrine also inhibited the infection of macrophages, a type of white blood cells, by the virus. These cells are important in the immune system.