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Peptoids Could One Day Cure or Prevent Herpes, COVID-19
News Medical Life Sciences ^ | Aug 24 2021 | Emily Henderson, B.Sc.

Posted on 08/28/2021 4:17:36 PM PDT by nickcarraway

In addition to antibodies and white blood cells, the immune system deploys peptides to fight viruses and other pathogens. Synthetic peptides could reinforce this defense but don't last long in the body, so researchers are developing stable peptide mimics. Today, scientists report success in using mimics known as peptoids to treat animals with herpes virus infections. These small synthetic molecules could one day cure or prevent many kinds of infections, including COVID-19.

The researchers will present their results at the fall meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS). ACS Fall 2021 is a hybrid meeting being held virtually and in-person Aug. 22-26, and on-demand content will be available Aug. 30-Sept. 30. The meeting features more than 7,000 presentations on a wide range of science topics.

But peptides are quickly cleared by enzymes, so they're not ideal drug candidates. Instead, she and her colleagues emulated the key biophysical attributes of LL-37 in smaller, more stable molecules called peptoids. "Peptoids are easy to make," says Barron, who is at Stanford University. "And unlike peptides, they're not rapidly degraded by enzymes, so they could be used at a much lower dose."

Peptides consist of short sequences of amino acids, with side chains bonded to carbon atoms in the molecules' backbone. This structure is easily broken apart by enzymes. In peptoids, the side chains are instead linked to nitrogens in the molecular backbone, forming a structure that resists enzymes. They were first created in 1992 by Chiron Corp.'s Ronald Zuckermann, Ph.D., later Barron's postdoctoral adviser. Unlike other types of peptide mimics that require laborious, multi-step organic chemistry to produce, peptoids are simple and inexpensive to make with an automated synthesizer and readily available chemicals, she says. "You can make them almost as easily as you make bread in a bread machine."

Barron, Zuckermann, Gill Diamond, Ph.D., of the University of Louisville and others founded Maxwell Biosciences to develop peptoids as clinical candidates to prevent or treat viral infections. They recently reported results with their newest peptoid sequences, which were designed to be less toxic to people than previous versions. In lab dishes, the compounds inactivated SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, and herpes simplex virus-1 (HSV-1), which causes oral cold sores, making the viruses incapable of infecting cultured human cells.

Now, the researchers are reporting in vivo results, showing that the peptoids safely prevented herpes infections in mice when dabbed on their lips. Diamond's team is conducting additional experiments to confirm the mouse findings. In addition, they will investigate the peptoids' effectiveness against HSV-1 strains that are resistant to acyclovir, the best current U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved antiviral treatment for this condition, Barron says

The researchers are also getting ready to test peptoids for activity against SARS-CoV-2 in mice. "COVID-19 infection involves the whole body, once somebody gets really sick with it, so we will do this test intravenously, as well as looking at delivery to the lungs," Barron says.

But these antimicrobial molecules could have many more applications. Work is ongoing at Stanford to explore their impact on ear and lung infections. And Barron has sent peptoid samples to experts in other labs to test against a range of viruses, with promising results in lab dish studies against influenza, the cold virus, and hepatitis B and C. "In their in vitro studies, a team found that two of the peptoids were the most potent antivirals ever identified against MERS and older SARS coronaviruses," Barron says. Other labs are testing the peptoids as anti-fungals for airways and the gut and as anti-infective coatings for contact lenses, catheters and implanted hip and knee joints.

Diamond and Barron are studying how these broad-spectrum compounds work. They seem to pierce and break up the viral envelope and also bind to the virus' RNA or DNA. That multipronged mechanism has the advantage of inactivating the virus, unlike standard antivirals, which slow viral replication but still allow viruses to infect cells, Barron says. It also makes it less likely that pathogens could develop resistance.

Barron expects clinical trials to begin within the year. If successful, she says, peptoids could be given as a preventative -; for instance, before air travel to protect a passenger from COVID-19 -; or after an infection takes hold, such as when a person feels the telltale tingle of an oncoming cold sore.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Health/Medicine; Science
KEYWORDS: covid19; herpes; medicine; peptides; peptoids

1 posted on 08/28/2021 4:17:36 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

The ten commandments will prevent Herpes...


2 posted on 08/28/2021 4:21:55 PM PDT by Openurmind (The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world it leaves to its children. ~ D. Bonhoeffer)
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To: nickcarraway

Sweet, so I can sleep with Paris Hilton now?...


3 posted on 08/28/2021 4:22:02 PM PDT by EEGator
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To: EEGator

She’s pregnant now, I think. I’m guessing you can’t.


4 posted on 08/28/2021 4:26:28 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: Openurmind

Not true


5 posted on 08/28/2021 4:28:02 PM PDT by Bell Bouy II
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To: nickcarraway

Perfect. I can’t get her pregnant...

Obviously I’m joking, and have no inclination to be “lucky” #873.


6 posted on 08/28/2021 4:28:46 PM PDT by EEGator
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To: Bell Bouy II

Yes it is. Marry a virgin and keep your organ in your pants other than her. And do not covet your neighbor’s wife who might have Herpes.

Yes... Yes... Yes....

And that is my story and sicking to it after 36 years of marriage and loyalty to the same young bride...

And? Rebuttal?


7 posted on 08/28/2021 4:46:12 PM PDT by Openurmind (The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world it leaves to its children. ~ D. Bonhoeffer)
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To: Openurmind

read your tag line


8 posted on 08/28/2021 4:57:14 PM PDT by Bell Bouy II
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To: Bell Bouy II

Absolutely... Do you comprehend it? Very few do... So how do we fix this world we are leaving our Children? A cure for Herpes? Give me a break and please do not insult my intelligence.

“What is a man who does not make his world better?”

Don’t need a sausage casing if you just don’t play around outside the natural Biblical program...

Are you trying to tell me that is is totally acceptable to play around behind your wife with your neighbor’s wife as long as you are moral about doing it?

What’s moral? Wearing a sausage casing? :)

See this simple concept is why this world is so screwed up. The “logic” is irrational.

It is simple... Just don’t screw around and you do not have to worry about “Cures”.


9 posted on 08/28/2021 5:10:50 PM PDT by Openurmind (The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world it leaves to its children. ~ D. Bonhoeffer)
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To: Openurmind

They’re talking about cold sores on your lip (fever blisters) = herpes simplex 1

Genital herpes = herpes simplex 2

Shingles = herpes zoster


10 posted on 08/28/2021 7:11:23 PM PDT by nuconvert ( Warning: Accused of being a radical militarist. Approach with caution.)
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To: nickcarraway

Amongst others BHT puts the herpes virus into remission about 99 % of the time. I know enough people for whom it has worked.

One of the best kept secrets around is BHT and its ability to kill LIPID covered viruses amongst them the corona virus. And for the ones hesitant to use it there is always
QUERCETIN+ZINC+D3+VITAMIN C+B-
Complex + Melatonin

BHT short for butylatedhydroxytoluene, has been around for the better part of thirty years or more, has been approved as a food additive by the FDA as safe for human consumption in small quantities and using common sense. Without going into all the details which would fill many pages some of the benefits are difficult to ignore even so pharmaceutical as well as the medical profession does their best to do so. As a prophylactic it would serve its purpose very well until the right vaccine comes along, without any undesirable side effects, besides being inexpensive and is safer than alcohol consumption, use of tobacco or many other unhealthy eating habits, including many prescription dugs with, many of them having undesirable side effects. No doubt whenever you had a prescription filled it came along with a sheet filled with warnings.

Some of the reasons are that that there is no money to be made by pharmaceutical companies as patents related to BHT ran out long time ago and in order to have it approved for medical application it would require an immeasurable amounts of human tests with expenditures in the millions of Dollars which most likely will never be recovered.

On the other hand many doctors may know about it but will refrain from suggesting it as recommending anything which is not approved by the FDA would leave them wide open to lawsuits, as it is pretty well known that one of the American dreams is, to fall on your neighbors property and then sue them for what ever they can get.

Over the years enough information about BHT has surfaced that if used in small quantities to achieve a particular result, such as from 100 mg to about 1g (one gram or 1000mg) and in most cases 250mg to 450mg may do a nice job for some of the things suggested, it may be less harmful than an equivalent amount of Aspirins. Again do your own research and use common sense which appears to be in short supply these days. Should you decide to try don’t go overboard with it, as more is not always better.

Even so if you still apprehensive or hesitant, use it only when one of those nasty viruses appears on the scene and use it as a prophylactic in a small quantity perhaps up to 450 mg and once the danger subside stop taking it. The catch is that in order to do its job BHT works better before you get sick, as BHT will NOT REPAIR ANY DAMAGE which may already have been done by an infectious disease such as the corona virus. Even so, if taken afterwards BHT will still continue to disable lipid covered viruses, but to repair any damage already caused may require different medications.

One suggested way of taking BHT is to dissolve the quantity you intend to take first in oil as BHT is only soluble in either oil or alcohol, I is also much better absorbed by the human body, but alcohol is not recommended to consume along with BHT. One way of doing it is to dissolve 18 grams or 277 grains, if you happen to have a powder scale used for reloading, of BHT in 200 milliliters of olive oil in a small glass bottle. Then heat it up slightly in a microwave for maybe 40 seconds and then shake it a few times. A teaspoon of this substance, depending on its size will give you approx. 450 mg of BHT which in most cases should do the trick.

So why take BHT on the firs place? It has been long known that BHT will damage the lipid layer or cover from LIPID COVERED viruses and the coronavirus happens to be just such one of such viruses and by doing so will prevent such a virus from attaching itself and do its dirty work.

The Principal Benefits of BHT

In order of importance, supplementing with BHT can help with:

Reduce and prevent viral infections such as herpes, thus terminating their outbreaks. But BHT is also effective against many different human and animal viruses including CMV (cytomegalovirus),9 pseudorabies,10 genital herpes,11HIV,12 and many strains of influenza. These are just a few but not all of the viruses that have a lipid envelope and may be killed by BHT include herpes simplex I, herpes simplex II, herpes zoster, CMV, West Nile virus, HIV virus, influenza virus, hepatitis B and C viruses, avian flu influenza virus and the SARS virus. However, BHT has not been clinically tested to treat and address these infections individually, and there probably never will be as no money can be made. Here, it may be of interest to note that a patent had been filed with the number US4350707 for BHT because of its LIPID COVERED virus killing ability approximately 30 years ago, however in the meantime this patent has expired.

Now keep in mind that very few things in life are perfect and this holds true for vaccines as well as BHT. So when everything comes down to being cut and dried, do you prefer risking being infected with a nasty virus with all kinds of unpredictable side effects or take a chance with some substance which overall has an extremely good safety record.

Besides most viruses will mutate over time, and by the time someone may come up with the proper vaccine it may no longer match the virus which is currently making its round. But this doesn’t make any difference with BHT if such a virus mutates or not. As long as such a virus has a lipid coating it will damage and disable it..

One of my hunches is, of course it is only speculation, and is based on how vaccination generally works. After BHT has finished the deactivation process of a given virus, such a virus may no longer have the potential to harm the human body, however any remnants of it may encourage our immune system to spring into action and produce anti bodies against this particular virus. Basically this is how basic immunization works by injecting a deactivated virus in anticipation that our immune system responds to it and begins to fight the real thing, when it come along by means of antibodies it has developed in the mean time.

More recently what you may call a ‘Quickie’ COVID “vaccines” are being worked on and developed which inject a live, SYNTHETIC virus, programmed to invade each and every the cell in our body, more or less using the human body as a bio-reactor in hopes to encourage the he human body on its own to develop anti bodies to fight a specific virus. It is a known technique but never tried before on a large scale due to safety concerns. But with the latest COVID virus coming along and being declared as an emergency the FDA dropped most of heir safety requirements giving pharmaceutical companies more or less a free hand to see how I will work on a huge number of people.

So called “Quick” developed vaccines may work just fine initially for a specific virus which they have been designed for, but later on should you get in infected with a mutated strain of such a virus, and viruses can and will mutate which is a guarantee, the outcome may not always be in your best interest and may have severe consequences. I for one would not want to be the first in line for such a vaccine and provide a test case.
Myself and many others who have been using BHT off and on for the past thirty years whenever one of these lipid covered viruses made their rounds have been pretty successful in keeping those nasty viruses at bay with no side effects.


11 posted on 08/28/2021 8:32:22 PM PDT by saintgermaine (Saintgermain the time traveler)
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To: Bell Bouy II

You are correct. Not all herpes infections are sexually transmissible via sex. I got them on my mouth from learning CPR on a cpr manekin. Others get them as babies simply from their mothers kissing them. Then there is a variety that can be passed to humans from monkeys. So the big 10 has nothing to do with many viruses.


12 posted on 08/29/2021 12:43:38 AM PDT by PrairieLady2
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To: PrairieLady2

Thank you and my point exactly, didnt want to get into a pe’en match with someone with such an “open-mind” so I dropped out.


13 posted on 08/29/2021 7:17:21 AM PDT by Bell Bouy II
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