“I do not think it is a “protease inhibitor” that stops the spike protein from binding or being bound.”
Did you just convince yourself that you knew the truth of the matter without having any idea whatsoever whether it is was true or not? And then tell everyone with the voice of authority that it is so?
Potential inhibitors of coronavirus 3-chymotrypsin-like protease (3CLpro): an in silico screening of alkaloids and terpenoids from African medicinal plants:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7256353/
“Likewise, alkaloids and terpenoids, from African plants, with documented antiviral, antimicrobial, antimalarial, antifungal, antileishmanial (Amoa Onguéné et al., 2013; Ndhlala et al., 2013; Osafo et al., 2017; Setzer et al., 2001) properties may inhibit the 3CLpro of SARS-CoV-2. This could also buttress reports that some patients with COVID-19 showed improvement when treated with hydroxychloroquine, an antimalarial drug (Wang et al., 2020; Wu et al., 2020)”
No. I have read a fair bit on the subject and took 600 level virology and epidemiology many years ago. I freely admit that I have forgotten much of it, but given that I was at the top of my class I had some aptitude or competency on the subjects once, but I don’t claim any current expertise beyond spending time researching on my own with competent studies.
HCQ’s primary benefit against Covid is as a zinc-ionophore. The other action of the drug dealing with pH and lysosomes does not appear to affect SARS. The anti-viral mechanisms of zinc are well understood and documented. By increasing cellular uptake of zinc we reduce viral replication by blocking the RNA polymerase. Some of the early studies on HCQ that showed no benefit ignored zinc.
The research also shows that HCQ was minimally effective in a patient who already had a high viral load. These were the studies that the CDC used to poo-poo HCQ after Trump mentioned it. Based on my research, HCQ needs to be administered early to work and it also requires adequate zinc.
The protease inhibitor (IVM and mulnoprovir) blocks replication of the virus via direct action instead of improving uptake of zinc. I firmly believe that IVM will be just as effective as the “new Pfizermectin” with a much cheaper cost.
There is much debate about the adequate level of zinc supplements. Based on what I have read and researched my family has been taking quercetin with zinc as it also produces the ionophore benefit although I believe HCQ is more powerful and effective.
You can get the same result with a protease inhibitor or a zinc-ionophore but the more effective of the two by itself appears to be IVM. The direct mechanisms are different but essentially both can provide a benefit as long as there is adequate zinc They did not incorporate both mechanisms in the pill, which to me is an admission that the protease inhibitor is most effective.
This debate will not be settled any time soon, but what is clear to me is that we should have been employing an early treatment plan using both (safe) aggressively upon onset of symptoms along with other cheap supplements like vitamin D.
There is no doubt in my mind that many lives would have been saved and illness would have been minimized for millions. I think in the coming years people are going to be very angry when they comprehend the truth of the last 18 months.
PS - I don’t claim and will not claim any “authority”. With a few hours of effort people can research this stuff for themselves.
I am not snarky and don’t come here to argue with anyone nor do I care if we don’t all agree with one another. We all have opinions and can live with the results. However, I am not clear what your disagreement is with what I wrote. This author is the first one who lumps them together when there are clear differences to me in the mode of action for HCQ and IVM or Mulnoprovir as described. Mulnoprovir appears to be a variant of IVM.
While I believe based on my own research that IVM is most effective, I do believe that HCQ administered early improves outcome. I have not read anything that says Mulnoprovir has any similarity with the chemistry of HCQ.
This may simply be a matter of semantics. Both do the same thing via different mechanisms, but the original source here appears to indicate that the new drug is similar to HCQ. It is not from what I have read. Again, same result via a different mechanism and I firmly believe IVM is the more effective (far more than the vaccines!).
FReep on FRiend.