US researchers are advancing an amazing method in the fight against Covid-19. Rather than aiming to destroy the virus, it is a question of luring it in order to divert it from human cells. Scientists therefore suggest the injection of nanosponges in Covid-19 patients, a treatment that would be fast and effective also for other diseases.
A revolutionary approach , here is how one could describe the work of nanotechnology engineer Liangfang Zhang. The person concerned and his team from the University of San Diego (United States) published a study in the journal Nano Letters June 17, 2020. It talks about deceiving the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 using "nano-sponges" acting as false targets. The goal? Divert the virus from human cells.
According to Liangfang Zhang, when the virus binds to nanosponges, the latter loses its dangerousness . Then, the immune cells take care of eliminating it before it is digested. These nanosponges have a polymer core wrapped in an epithelial membrane extracted from lung cells or macrophage cells. These same nanosponges therefore also have protein receptors on which the virus can attach.
Tests carried out in collaboration with Boston University (United States) are sources of hope. At 5 mg per litre, nanosponges inhibited coronavirus activity by 93% in the case of a heart wrapped in a lung cell membrane. This was to limit lung infection. In addition, the researchers obtained an 88% inhibition rate concerning nanosponges whose core was enveloped in a macrophage cell membrane. Here, it was a question of targeting cases of cytokine storm generating an immune response that escalates into violent inflammatory reaction . However, in both cases, the virus greatly loses its ability to bind and infect human cells.
Although this method is only at the experimental stage, researchers have already thought carefully about means of administering the treatment . This could be an injection directly into the lungs (lung infection) or intravenously (cytokine storm). Over the next few months, scientists will be carrying out tests on animals. The goal will be to provide more answers about the effectiveness of the treatment.
The study leaders also raise the possibility that the treatment in question is capable of treating other viral diseases or bacteria. The researchers explain that nanosponges could work more globally while other drugs or antibodies (vaccines) specifically block the infection or replication of a virus.
