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Broad-spectrum Antiviral
Broad-spectrum antivirals (BSAs) are a class of molecules or compounds, which inhibit the infection of multiple viruses from the same (intra-family BSAs) or different (inter-family BSAs) virus families. BSAs could be divided into experimental and investigational agents, and approved drugs. BSAs work by inhibiting viral proteins (such as polymerases and proteases) or by targeting host cell factors and processes exploited by different viruses during infection. As of 2021, there are 150 known BSAs in varying stages of development, effective against 78 human viruses. BSAs are potential candidates for treatment of emerging and re-emerging viruses, such as ebola, marburg, and SARS-CoV-2. Many BSAs show antiviral activity against other viruses than originally investigated (such as remdesivir and interferon alfa). Efforts in drug repurposing for SARS-CoV-2 is currently underway. A database of BSAs and viruses they inhibit could be found here (https://drugvirus.info/). See also * Broad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Compounding
In the field of pharmacy, compounding (performed in compounding pharmacies) is preparation of custom medications to fit unique needs of patients that cannot be met with mass-produced formulations. This may be done, for example, to provide medication in a form easier for a given patient to ingest (e.g., liquid vs. tablet), or to avoid a non-active ingredient a patient is allergic to, or to provide an exact dose that isn't otherwise available. This kind of patient-specific compounding, according to a prescriber's specifications, is referred to as "traditional" compounding. The nature of patient need for such customization can range from absolute necessity (e.g. avoiding allergy) to individual optimality (e.g. ideal dose level) to even preference (e.g. flavor or texture). Hospital pharmacies typically engage in compounding medications for intravenous administration, whereas outpatient or community pharmacies typically engage in compounding medications for oral or topical administ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Viral Protein
The term viral protein refers to both the products of the genome of a virus and any host proteins incorporated into the viral particle. Viral proteins are grouped according to their functions, and groups of viral proteins include structural proteins, nonstructural proteins, regulatory proteins, and accessory proteins. Viruses are non-living and do not have the means to reproduce on their own, instead depending on their host cell's machinery to do this. Thus, viruses do not code for most of the proteins required for their replication and the translation of their mRNA into viral proteins, but use proteins encoded by the host cell for this purpose. Viral structural proteins Most viral structural proteins are components for the capsid and the envelope of the virus. Capsid The genetic material of a virus is stored within a viral protein structure called the capsid. The capsid is a "shield" that protects the viral nucleic acids from getting degraded by host enzymes or other types ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polymerase
In biochemistry, a polymerase is an enzyme (Enzyme Commission number, EC 2.7.7.6/7/19/48/49) that synthesizes long chains of polymers or nucleic acids. DNA polymerase and RNA polymerase are used to assemble DNA and RNA molecules, respectively, by copying a DNA template strand using Base pair, base-pairing interactions or RNA by half ladder replication. A DNA polymerase from the thermophile, thermophilic bacterium, ''Thermus aquaticus'' (''Taq'') (Protein Data Bank, PDB]1BGX EC 2.7.7.7) is used in the polymerase chain reaction, an important technique of molecular biology. A polymerase may be template-dependent or template-independent. Polynucleotide adenylyltransferase, Poly-A-polymerase is an example of template independent polymerase. Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase also known to have template independent and template dependent activities. By function *DNA polymerase (DNA-directed DNA polymerase, DdDP) **Family A: DNA polymerase I; Pol POLG, γ, POLQ, θ, DNA polymer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Protease
A protease (also called a peptidase, proteinase, or proteolytic enzyme) is an enzyme that catalysis, catalyzes proteolysis, breaking down proteins into smaller polypeptides or single amino acids, and spurring the formation of new protein products. They do this by cleaving the peptide bonds within proteins by hydrolysis, a reaction where water breaks Covalent bond, bonds. Proteases are involved in numerous biological pathways, including Digestion#Protein digestion, digestion of ingested proteins, protein catabolism (breakdown of old proteins), and cell signaling. In the absence of functional accelerants, proteolysis would be very slow, taking hundreds of years. Proteases can be found in all forms of life and viruses. They have independently convergent evolution, evolved multiple times, and different classes of protease can perform the same reaction by completely different catalytic mechanisms. Classification Based on catalytic residue Proteases can be classified into seven broad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emergent Virus
An emergent virus (or emerging virus) is a virus that is either newly appeared, notably increasing in incidence/ geographic range or has the potential to increase in the near future. Emergent viruses are a leading cause of emerging infectious diseases and raise public health challenges globally, given their potential to cause outbreaks of disease which can lead to epidemics and pandemics. As well as causing disease, emergent viruses can also have severe economic implications. Recent examples include the SARS-related coronaviruses, which have caused the 2002–2004 outbreak of SARS (SARS-CoV-1) and the 2019–2023 pandemic of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2). Other examples include the human immunodeficiency virus, which causes HIV/AIDS; the viruses responsible for Ebola; the H5N1 influenza virus responsible for avian influenza; and H1N1/09, which caused the 2009 swine flu pandemic (an earlier emergent strain of H1N1 caused the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic). Viral emergence in humans is of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ebolavirus
The genus ''Ebolavirus'' (- or ; - or ) is a International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses, virological taxon included in the family ''Filoviridae'' (filament-shaped viruses), order ''Mononegavirales''. The members of this genus are called ebolaviruses, and encode their genome in the form of RNA virus#Group V—negative-sense ssRNA viruses, single-stranded negative-sense RNA. The six known virus International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses, species are named for the region where each was originally identified: ''Bundibugyo ebolavirus'', ''Reston ebolavirus'', ''Sudan ebolavirus'', ''Taï Forest ebolavirus'' (originally ''Côte d'Ivoire ebolavirus''), ''Zaire ebolavirus'', and ''Bombali ebolavirus''. The last is the most recent species to be named and was isolated from Angolan free-tailed bats in Sierra Leone. Each species of the genus ''Ebolavirus'' has one member virus, and four of these cause Ebola virus disease (EVD) in humans, a type of Viral hemorrhagic fever, hemorrhagic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marburg Virus
Marburg virus (MARV) is a hemorrhagic fever virus of the '' Filoviridae'' family of viruses and a member of the species '' Marburg marburgvirus'', genus '' Marburgvirus''. It causes Marburg virus disease in primates, a form of viral hemorrhagic fever. The World Health Organization (WHO) rates it as a Risk Group 4 Pathogen (requiring biosafety level 4-equivalent containment). In the United States, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases ranks it as a Category A Priority Pathogen and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists it as a Category A Bioterrorism Agent. It is also listed as a biological agent for export control by the Australia Group. The virus can be transmitted by exposure to one species of fruit bats or it can be transmitted between people via body fluids through unprotected sex and broken skin. The disease can cause haemorrhage, fever, and other symptoms similar to Ebola, which belongs to the same family of viruses. According to t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
SARS-CoV-2
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19, the respiratory illness responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had the Novel coronavirus, provisional name 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), and has also been called human coronavirus 2019 (HCoV-19 or hCoV-19). First identified in the city of Wuhan, Hubei, China, the World Health Organization designated the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern from January 30, 2020, to May 5, 2023. SARS‑CoV‑2 is a positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus that is Contagious disease, contagious in humans. SARS‑CoV‑2 is a strain of the species ''Betacoronavirus pandemicum'' (SARSr-CoV), as is SARS-CoV-1, the virus that caused the 2002–2004 SARS outbreak. There are animal-borne coronavirus strains more closely related to SARS-CoV-2, the most closely known relative being the BANAL-52 bat coronavirus. SARS-CoV-2 is of Zoonosis, z ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Remdesivir
Remdesivir, sold under the brand name Veklury, Text was copied from this source which is copyright European Medicines Agency. Reproduction is authorized provided the source is acknowledged. is a Broad-spectrum antiviral drug, broad-spectrum antiviral medication developed by the biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences. It is administered via intravenous, injection into a vein. During the COVID-19 pandemic, COVID19 pandemic, remdesivir was approved or authorized for emergency use to treat Coronavirus disease 2019, COVID19 in numerous countries. Remdesivir was originally developed to treat hepatitis C, and was subsequently investigated for Ebola, Ebola virus disease and Marburg virus disease, Marburg virus infections before being studied as a post-infection treatment for COVID19. Remdesivir is a prodrug that is intended to allow intracellular delivery of GS-441524 monophosphate and subsequent biotransformation into GS-441524 triphosphate, a ribonucleotide analogue inhibitor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Interferon Alfa
Interferon alfa ( INN) or HuIFN-alpha-Le, trade name Multiferon, is a pharmaceutical drug composed of natural interferon alpha (IFN-α), obtained from the leukocyte fraction of human blood following induction with Sendai virus. Interferon alfa contains several naturally occurring IFN-α subtypes and is purified by affinity chromatography. Although the pharmaceutical product is often simply called "interferon alpha" or "IFN-α" like its endogenous counterpart, the product's International nonproprietary name (INN) is interferon alfa (the spelling of 'alfa' with 'f' reflects INN naming conventions). Interferon alfa is used in a variety of treatments, including certain forms of leukemia, malignant melanoma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C. It is typically administered as an injection under the skin. Adverse Effects Common side effects (≥10% of people) include: increased risk of infection due to drop in white blood cells; difficulty sleeping; mood changes in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
COVID-19 Drug Repurposing Research
Drug repositioning (also known as drug repurposing, re-profiling, re-tasking, or therapeutic switching) is the repurposing of an approved drug for the treatment of a different disease or medical condition than that for which it was originally developed. This is one line of scientific research which is being pursued to develop safe and effective COVID-19 treatments. Other research directions include the development of a COVID-19 vaccine and convalescent plasma transfusion. Several existing antiviral medications, previously developed or used as treatments for severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), HIV/AIDS, and malaria, have been researched as potential COVID-19 treatments, with some moving into clinical trials. In a statement to the journal '' Nature Biotechnology'' in February 2020, US National Institutes of Health Viral Ecology Unit chief Vincent Munster said, "The general genomic layout and the general replication kinetics ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Broad-spectrum Antibiotic
A broad-antimicrobial spectrum, spectrum antibiotic is an antibiotic that acts on the two major bacterial groups, Gram-positive and Gram-negative, or any antibiotic that acts against a wide range of disease-causing bacteria. These medications are used when a bacterial infection is suspected but the group of bacteria is unknown (also called empiric therapy) or when infection with multiple groups of bacteria is suspected. This is in contrast to a narrow-spectrum antibiotic, which is effective against only a specific group of bacteria. Although powerful, broad-spectrum antibiotics pose specific risks, particularly the disruption of native, normal bacteria and the development of antimicrobial resistance. An example of a commonly used broad-spectrum antibiotic is ampicillin. Bacterial targets Antibiotics are often grouped by their ability to act on different bacterial groups. Although bacteria are biologically classified using Bacterial taxonomy, taxonomy, disease-causing bacteria hav ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
