Mers breakthrough as University of Hong Kong researchers find combination of two drugs – cyclosporine and interferon – stops virus from spreading
Current treatment for severe infections usually involves the use of interferon or antiviral drugs
University of Hong Kong researchers have discovered a potential breakthrough that could boost survival of Middle East respiratory syndrome (Mers) involving a combination of two readily available drugs.
The combination involves cyclosporine – an immunosuppressant often used in organ transplants to prevent rejection – and interferon, which is used to treat influenza. The drugs would only have to be taken for three to seven days.
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Current treatment for severe infections usually involves the use of interferon alone or antiviral drugs.
Researchers at the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine at HKU made their discovery using a “lung in a test tube” model they created to study Mers. The model was developed by using discarded human lung tissue from patients at Queen Mary Hospital in Pok Fu Lam.
The World Health Organisation has reported 2,206 confirmed cases of Mers, including 787 deaths – a 35.7 per cent fatality rate – as of April 2018, since it was first identified in Saudi Arabia in 2012.
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In a study published in the journal, Antiviral Research, the nine-member HKU team led by Professor John Nicholls, showed that “a combination of two currently licensed agents was able to significantly inhibit virus replication and tissue damage by the Mers coronavirus in human bronchus and lung, when compared with single agent treatment or no treatment”.