NATION NOW

Team of researchers inch closer to Zika treatment

James Call
Tallahassee Democrat
The same mosquito which carries yellow fever also transmits the Zika virus to humans.

Clarification: This story has been updated to clarify the method of treatment. 

TALLAHASSEE -- A team of researchers may have taken the first steps towards creating a treatment for Zika infections.

Hengli Tang, a biological science professor at the Florida State University College of Arts and Science, worked with scientists from Johns Hopkins University and the National Institute of Health on repositioning drugs already approved or undergoing clinical trials.

The team identified nine compounds or medicinal mixtures, that appear to stop the Zika virus from killing fetal brain cells and from reproducing.

The findings were published Monday in Nature Medicine.

Little is known about Zika, a mosquito-borne disease first discovered in 1947. The virus can lead to catastrophic birth defects including microcephaly – incomplete brain development.

In nine years, the virus has crossed four continents. The World Health Organization reports that since 2015, 53 countries have reported Zika infections. Since February, eleven countries have reported sexual transmission of the disease.

It was first reported in the Americas in Brazil in 2014 and has since spread to the United States.

Florida reported its first case in February, and as of Monday, the state has documented 588 residents with infections, including 75 pregnant women.

“The probability of Zika-induced microcephaly occurring doesn’t appear to be that high, but when it does, the damage is horrible,” Tang said.

Doctoral students Emily Lee, Yichen Cheng and Sarah Ogden played a key role in conducting Zika research in Professor Hengli Tang’s laboratory.  Tang is at the far right.

Tang and researcher Hongjun Song of Johns Hopkins explained repurposing already-approved drugs is a quicker alternative than developing a new medicine.

“In this sort of global health emergency, we don’t have time,” said Song. “In this way, we hope to create a therapy much more quickly.”

Of the 6,000 compounds tested, one already on the market showed the ability to inhibit the infection from spreading and reproducing.

One of the identified compounds, is found in the drug Nicolsamide, which has been used for 50 years to treat tapeworm.  When applied to the Zika strand that infected Puerto Rico in 2015, it appeared to stop the virus in its tracks.

Tang said tests are still needed to determine a specific treatment regimen for treating the infection.

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