Scientists from Spain confirmed that a drug protease inhibitor aprotinin prevented cells to be infected by the COVID-19 virus.
They found that patients receiving an aprotinin aerosol could be discharged from the hospital much earlier.
The research is published in the European Journal of Clinical Investigation and was conducted by Francisco Javier Redondo‐Calvo et al.
SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, needs its spike proteins to dock onto proteins (ACE receptors) on the surface of the host cells.
Before this docking is possible, parts of the spike protein have to be cleaved by the host cell’s enzymes called proteases.
A previous study found that aprotinin, a protease inhibitor, could inhibit virus replications by preventing SARS-CoV-2 entry into host cells.
In a more recent study, the research consortium further showed that aprotinin is also effective against the Delta and Omicron variants.
In the current study, the team examined the use of an aprotinin aerosol in COVID-19 patients. Among other improvements, they found aprotinin treatment reduced the length of hospital stays by five days.
The team says it is exciting that aprotinin has now also been shown to be effective against COVID-19 in patients.
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