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Severe cases of Covid-19 have been known to lead to a mysterious condition whereby the body's immune system goes haywire and starts attacking healthy cells, rather than just those that are infected. This prolonged state of self-sabotage is known as a 'cytokine storm' and can be fatal, but researchers have struggled to understand how it works and how to treat it. Now new research has looked at the progression of a coronavirus infection in mice and found the cytokine storm is a vicious cycle, which leads to the overproduction of two signalling proteins called tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and interferon...

Dr. Campbell's synopsis of his YouTube video about Synairgen SNG001: Interferon-Beta Naturally occurring antiviral proteinCytokineInterfere swith viral replicationInduces fever and muscle pains (along with other cytokines)Activates immune cells, natural killer (NK) cells and macrophagesReduces protein synthesis in adjacent cellsActivates an enzyme to destroy RNA, further reducing protein synthesisStimulates many other interferon-stimulated genesStimulates infected cells into apoptosis (cell "suicide" death)Key component of human immune defence against viral infection Phase 2 study Inhaled interferon-beta gives high local concentrationsPlacebo controlledn = 101 hospitalised patients at 9 UK hospitalsAll patients tested positive for SARS-CoV-2Co-morbidities: Diabetics: Treatment group n = 9; Placebo group n =...

By differentiating between bacterial and viral fevers, a new test may help doctors decide whether to prescribe antibiotics. Fevers are a common symptom of many infectious diseases, but it can be difficult to tell whether viruses or bacteria are the cause. By measuring gene activity in the blood of 22 sick children, Gregory Storch, a pediatrician and infectious disease researcher at Washington University in St. Louis and colleagues were able to distinguish bacteria-sparked fevers from ones kindled by viruses. The activity of hundreds of genes changed as the children’s immune systems responded to the pathogens, but the team found that...

A team of UCLA-led researchers has identified a protein with broad virus-fighting properties that potentially could be used as a weapon against deadly human pathogenic viruses such as HIV, Ebola, Rift Valley Fever, Nipah and others designated "priority pathogens" for national biosecurity purposes by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease. In a study published in the January issue of the journal Immunity, the researchers describe the novel antiviral property of the protein, cholesterol-25-hydroxylase (CH25H), an enzyme that converts cholesterol to an oxysterol called 25-hydroxycholesterol (25HC), which can permeate a cell's wall and block a virus from getting in....

Anti-cancer chicken eggs produced GM chickens could be a route to faster, cheaper drugs UK scientists have developed genetically modified chickens capable of laying eggs containing proteins needed to make cancer-fighting drugs. The breakthrough has been announced by the same research centre that created the cloned sheep, Dolly. The Roslin Institute, near Edinburgh, says it has produced five generations of birds that can produce useful levels of life-saving proteins in egg whites. The work could lead to a range of drugs that are cheaper and easier to make. Professor Harry Griffin, director of the institute, told the BBC: "One of...

<p>FORT DETRICK, Md. (AP) -- The first strong evidence that medicine will eventually defeat the SARS virus has come to light in recent days at the Army's biodefense labs, where the world's most intensive and systematic search for a cure is going on around the clock.</p>

<p>The only drug that has stopped the new coronavirus from replicating is interferon. But scientists fear that the dose required is too toxic to be safe.</p> <p>In all, Fort Detrick will be screening more than 800 drugs on the market, including 40 anti-virals used to treat AIDS, herpes, hepatitis and influenza. Finding an effective treatment among that group would be the best-case scenario because the drug could be used immediately.</p> <p>But none seems promising so far.</p> <p>Scientists are planning to test at least another 1,500 drugs that are under development in laboratories.</p>