Existing drugs used to treat diabetes, obesity and ageing can help cure COVID-19: IISER Bhopal Scientists

Viral infections have a severe effect on the ageing population and people with diabetic conditions, IISER Bhopal said, adding that studies are being conducted worldwide on the effects of aging and diabetes on the short and long-term outcomes of the COVID-19 infection.

A team of researchers at the Indian Institute for Science Education and Research (IISER) Bhopal have claimed that the drugs that are used to treat diabetes, obesity and ageing can be used to treat COVID-19.  They have recently published a review of the biomolecular relationships among COVID-19, ageing and diabetes.

Dr Amjad Husain, Principal Scientist, and Chief Executive Officer of the Innovation and Incubation Center for Entrepreneurship (IICE), IISER Bhopal, along with researchers from the University of Arizona have presented that in addition to these drugs, some similar, naturally existing biomolecules can also be explored as potential drugs for Covid treatment, as reported by NDTV.

Their review, co-authored by Dr. Udeep Chawla, Dr. Manoj Kumar Kashyap and Dr. Amjad Husain, has been published recently in the journal Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry and offers insight into future directions in COVID-19 therapeutics.

While speaking about the research, the principal scientist at IICE stated that “With the nearly-two-year-long COVID-19 pandemic continuing to ravage the world, we are beginning to slowly understand the virus and its functioning.”

Viral infections have a severe effect on the ageing population and people with diabetic conditions, IISER Bhopal said, adding that studies are being conducted worldwide on the effects of aging and diabetes on the short and long-term outcomes of the COVID-19 infection.

“The review shows that at the molecular level, there are intersecting pathways that are common to diabetes, ageing, and COVID-19. All three conditions are associated with oxidative stress and lowering of the immune response and complications arising from them lead to the onset of numerous other diseases such as cardiovascular disorders, eye diseases, neuropathy (nerve diseases), and nephropathy (kidney problems),” the institute said.

“There is an urgent need to shortlist effective therapeutics from the existing pool of potential compounds,” as the time taken to discover a new drug and its approval takes longer said the lead researcher, Dr Husain.

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