New Approach, Old Drug Show Promise Against Hepatitis C, Research Shows

[mikesimon]

".....The advance involves two new discoveries. One is that a protein called NS4B is instrumental in binding some of the genetic material, or RNA, and allowing the hepatitis C virus to replicate. The other is that the former anti-itching drug clemizole hydrochloride could hinder that protein, resulting in a tenfold decrease in virus replication with no apparent harm to infected liver-like cells. Because the drug has already been used by people, it is eligible for human testing....."

See: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080831151350.htm

Mike

[IAmTheWalrus]

Thanks, Mike. Very interesting.

[dointime]

Thanks for posting Mike.  This is great news, especially the new lab technique that facilitates more efficient and faster research.

dointime      

[frijole]

It is all greek to me but I agree, Goof - I think we could embellish the uncomfortable fullike symptoms a tad

[merryBe]

cool stuff. this kinda reminds me of the new stuff on the P450 chromosome and how stimulating it increases fibrosis. Soon they'll have much better antiviral/antifibrotics combos and we can all get well!!

Learning which chemicals to stimulate and suppress.....sheesh, what a complex world our bodies are!!

[merryBe]

after several attempts, I think the Nature Biotech article must have been delayed, can't find it anywhere.

also can't find any current RX dosing info for this....is it that obsolete that no rx's are available?

I did find a bulk source for it at Spectrum chemicals, but would still need to know dosing info to try it that way.

It might be easier to just do it that way than to try to convince my doctor, after the battle to get on Alinia it would be a hard sell...although it is his buddies at Stanford doing the research...and that's what won him over finally last time...

hmmm...as far as flu like....heck, taken at night, I may be able to eliminate one or both sleep aides. Besides, with all the current sides, like one more would matter?

If anyone finds out more info on this please post it, I would think a ten fold reduction in viral replication should put it at the top of any treaters points to ponder.
It's getting the chemical into the cell that concerns me....how well does it do that.

If anybody finds the original research of Aug 31 please post it here.
and thanks Mike for finding this one....really a plus.
mb

[merryBe]

Article abstract

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Nature Biotechnology
Published online: 31 August 2008 | doi:10.1038/nbt.1490


Discovery of a hepatitis C target and its pharmacological inhibitors by microfluidic affinity analysis
Shirit Einav1,2,5, Doron Gerber3,5, Paul D Bryson2, Ella H Sklan2, Menashe Elazar2, Sebastian J Maerkl3,4, Jeffrey S Glenn2 & Stephen R Quake3



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AbstractMore effective therapies are urgently needed against hepatitis C virus (HCV), a major cause of viral hepatitis. We used in vitro protein expression and microfluidic affinity analysis to study RNA binding by the HCV transmembrane protein NS4B, which plays an essential role in HCV RNA replication. We show that HCV NS4B binds RNA and that this binding is specific for the 3' terminus of the negative strand of the viral genome with a dissociation constant (Kd) of 3.4 nM. A high-throughput microfluidic screen of a compound library identified 18 compounds that substantially inhibited binding of RNA by NS4B. One of these compounds, clemizole hydrochloride, was found to inhibit HCV RNA replication in cell culture that was mediated by its suppression of NS4B's RNA binding, with little toxicity for the host cell. These results yield new insight into the HCV life cycle and provide a candidate compound for pharmaceutical development.

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Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California 94305, USA.
Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Stanford University School of Medicine, CCSR 3115A, 269 Campus Drive, Stanford, California 94305, USA.
Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford, California 94305, USA.
Present address: School of Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Building BM 2111, Station 17, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Correspondence to: Jeffrey S Glenn2 e-mail: jeffrey.***@****

Correspondence to: Stephen R Quake3 e-mail: ***@****


the whole article costs 32 bucks....don't think it would help me with dosing info at this stage of their research so I'll pass.

Looks like I need a really OLD PDR to discover what dosages were used.
the research on this is all from the sixties. Old stuff.

Also, it looks like several repatent searches are being applied for, which means the price will skyrocket. Probably Burroughs doing that and a competitor or 2.  It's tempting to just get bulk from Spectrum while it's still generic, sounds crazy, but hey...maybe I've still got a PDR in the attic...hmm

mb