Green tea, Metformin, and viral superspreaders: COVID-19 research roundup for Friday August 19 – cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio X-rays find antiviral compounds in common foods, a diabetes drug may help prevent serious COVID-19 symptoms, and researchers uncover how much virus infected people spread.

Cleveland.com brings you the latest COVID-19 news and research for Friday Aug. 19, 2022.

Antiviral compounds found in common foods

Three natural compounds present in foods like green tea, olive oil and red wine are promising new candidates for the development of drugs to fight against the coronavirus, according to research published last week in the journal Communications Biology.

A group of researchers in Germany used high intensity x-rays created at the particle accelerator laboratory PETRA III in Hamburg to determine the precise molecular structure of an enzyme required for the replication of the coronavirus, and screen a library of compounds that bind to it and may prevent it from working.

To do this, they mixed the viral enzyme with over 500 different natural compounds and formed tiny crystals. They then illuminated the crystals with the bright light from the x-rays and used the pattern of light bouncing off the crystal structure to create an image of the enzyme accurate down to the level of individual atoms.

The screening showed that three chemical compounds called phenols bind to the enzyme: hydroxyethylphenol (YRL), isolated for the experiments from the henna tree Lawsonia alba, is a compound present in many foods such as red wine and virgin olive oil and used as an anti-arrhythmia agent. Hydroxybenzaldehyde (HBA) is a known anti-tumor agent and accelerates wound healing. It was isolated from the copperleaf Acalypha torta. Methyldihydroxybenzoate (HE9), isolated from the French marigold Tagetes patula, is an anti-oxidant with anti-inflammatory effect and is found in green tea.

All three compounds are already used as active substances in existing drugs, said Christian Betzel from the University of Hamburg The advantage of these substances is their proven safety, says Betzel,. These compounds naturally occur in many foods. However, drinking green tea will not cure your corona infection. Like it will not heal your wounds or cure your cancer. If and how a corona drug can be developed from these phenols is subject to further studies.

Diabetes drug Metformin may treat COVID-19

Researchers have found that metformin, a commonly prescribed diabetes medication, lowers the odds of emergency department visits, hospitalizations, or death due to COVID-19 by over 40%; and over 50% if prescribed early in onset of symptoms, said a study published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study also found no positive effect from treatment with either ivermectin or low-dose fluvoxamine.

1,323 participants, some of whom were vaccinated and some who were not, were randomly assigned to receive one of the three drugs individually, a placebo, or a combination of metformin and fluvoxamine or metformin and ivermectin. During 3 to 14 days of treatment, each volunteer tracked their symptoms, and after 14 days, they completed a survey.

We are pleased to contribute to the body of knowledge around COVID-19 therapies in general, with treatments that are widely available, said Carolyn Bramante, MD, principal investigator of the study and an assistant professor of internal medicine and pediatrics at the University of Minnesota Medical School. Our trial suggests that metformin may reduce the likelihood of needing to go to the emergency room or be hospitalized for COVID-19.

How much virus does a person with COVID-19 exhale?

If youve tested positive for COVID, just how much are you spreading virus to others every time you cough, sneeze or just breathe out? One group of researchers at the University of Maryland School of Public Health aimed to find out. What they discovered was that people infected with the highly transmissible Alpha, Delta and Omicron variants of SARS-CoV-2 expel higher amounts of virus than do those infected with other variants, and some individuals spread significantly more virus than others.

They also found that vaccination does not prevent individuals from spreading the virus either. According to their research, individuals who contract COVID-19 after vaccination, even after a booster dose, still shed virus into the air.

Their preliminary findings, though not yet peer-reviewed, have been published on the site MedRxiv.

For the study, 93 people who were infected with SARS-CoV-2 between mid-2020 and early 2022 faced into a cone-shaped apparatus and sang, shouted, coughed and sneezed for 30 minutes, while an attached machine collected the particles they exhaled. The device, called a Gesundheit-II, separated out the fine aerosolized droplets measuring 5 micrometers or less in diameter, which can linger in the air and leak through cloth and surgical masks.

The participants infections were caused by strains including the Alpha variant, which emerged in late 2020, and the later Delta and Omicron variants. All participants with the latter two strains had been fully vaccinated before catching the virus.

The study authors write that their research underscores the importance on better indoor air quality, air filtration, and masking in minimizing viral transmission.

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Green tea, Metformin, and viral superspreaders: COVID-19 research roundup for Friday August 19 - cleveland.com