News tagged with antiviral drugs
Manufacturing genes to attack flu virus
An international research team has manufactured a new protein that can combat deadly flu epidemics.
May 27, 2012 |
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New findings detail how virus prepares to infect cells
(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers have learned the atomic-scale arrangement of proteins in a structure that enables a virus to invade and fuse with host cells, showing precisely how the structure morphs with changing ...
Dec 01, 2010 |
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Researchers decode structure of an entire HIV genome
The structure of an entire HIV genome has been decoded for the first time by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The results have widespread implications for understanding the strategies ...
Medicine & Health / HIV & AIDS
Aug 05, 2009 |
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Biologists provide molecular explanation for the evolution of Tamiflu resistance
Biologists at the California Institute of Technology have pinpointed molecular changes that helped allow the global spread of resistance to the antiviral medication Tamiflu (oseltamivir) among strains of the seasonal H1N1 ...
Jun 03, 2010 |
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Studies reveal structure of EV71, a virus causing childhood illnesses
Researchers have discovered critical new details about the structure of a virus that causes potentially fatal brain swelling and paralysis in children, pointing toward designs for antiviral drugs to treat ...
Mar 02, 2012 |
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Possible new route to fight dengue virus pointed
Researchers have identified enzymes and biochemical compounds called lipids that are targeted and modified by the dengue virus during infection, suggesting a potential new approach to control the aggressive ...
Mar 22, 2012 |
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Nanotechnology holds promise for STD drug delivery
Yale researchers describe a breakthrough in safe and effective administration of potential antiviral drugs — small interfering RNA (siRNA) molecules that silence genes — the first step in development of a ...
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
May 03, 2009 |
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Researchers find human protein that prevents H1N1 influenza infection
Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers have identified a naturally occurring human protein that helps prevent infection by H1N1 influenza and other viruses, including West Nile and dengue virus.
Medicine & Health / Medical research
Dec 17, 2009 |
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Opinion: H5N1 flu is just as dangerous as feared, now requires action
The debate about the potential severity of an outbreak of airborne H5N1 influenza in humans needs to move on from speculation and focus instead on how we can safely continue H5N1 research and share the results among researchers, ...
Feb 23, 2012 |
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Scientists redefine how our immune system responds to viruses
(PhysOrg.com) -- Landmark research from the Medical Research Council (MRC) has discovered that antibodies can fight viruses from within infected cells. This finding transforms the previous scientific understanding ...
Medicine & Health / Medical research
Nov 02, 2010 |
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Chemists discover how antiviral drugs bind to and block flu virus
Antiviral drugs block influenza A viruses from reproducing and spreading by attaching to a site within a proton channel necessary for the virus to infect healthy cells, according to a research project led ...
Feb 03, 2010 |
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Discovery suggests a new way to prevent HIV from infecting human cells
Researchers at the University of Minnesota have discovered how HIV binds to and destroys a specific human antiviral protein called APOBEC3F. The results suggest that a simple chemical change can convert APOBEC3F to a more ...
Dec 22, 2010 |
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Combination of direct antivirals may be key to curing hepatitis C
A combination of antiviral drugs may be needed to combat the drug resistance that rapidly develops in potentially deadly hepatitis C infections, a new study using sophisticated computer and mathematical modeling has shown.
Medicine & Health / Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes
May 05, 2010 |
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Scientists identify potential new class of drugs to combat hepatitis C
Stanford University School of Medicine scientists have discovered a novel class of compounds that, in experiments in vitro, inhibit replication of the virus responsible for hepatitis C. If these compounds prove effective ...
Medicine & Health / Medical research
Jan 20, 2010 |
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Novel compound found effective against avian influenza virus
A novel compound is highly effective against the pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus, including some drug-resistant strains, according to new research led by a University of Wisconsin-Madison virologist.
Medicine & Health / Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes
Feb 26, 2010 |
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Antiviral drug
Antiviral drugs are a class of medication used specifically for treating viral infections. Like antibiotics for bacteria, specific antivirals are used for specific viruses. Unlike antibiotics, antiviral drugs do not destroy their target pathogen but inhibit their development.
Antiviral drugs are one class of antimicrobials, a larger group which also includes antibiotic, antifungal and antiparasitic drugs. They are relatively harmless to the host, and therefore can be used to treat infections. They should be distinguished from viricides, which are not medication but destroy virus particles outside the body.
Most of the antivirals now available are designed to help deal with HIV, herpes viruses (best known for causing cold sores and genital herpes, but actually causing a wide range of diseases), the hepatitis B and C viruses, which can cause liver cancer, and influenza A and B viruses. Researchers are working to extend the range of antivirals to other families of pathogens.
Designing safe and effective antiviral drugs is difficult, because viruses use the host's cells to replicate. This makes it difficult to find targets for the drug that would interfere with the virus without harming the host organism's cells.
The emergence of antivirals is the product of a greatly expanded knowledge of the genetic and molecular function of organisms, allowing biomedical researchers to understand the structure and function of viruses, major advances in the techniques for finding new drugs, and the intense pressure placed on the medical profession to deal with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the cause of the deadly acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) pandemic.
Almost all anti-microbials, including anti-virals, are subject to drug resistance as the pathogens mutate over time, becoming less susceptible to the treatment. For instance, a recent study published in Nature Biotechnology emphasized the urgent need for augmentation of oseltamivir (Tamiflu) stockpiles with additional antiviral drugs including zanamivir (Relenza) based on an evaluation of the performance of these drugs in the scenario that the 2009 H1N1 'Swine Flu' neuraminidase (NA) were to acquire the tamiflu-resistance (His274Tyr) mutation which is currently wide-spread in seasonal H1N1 strains.
For more information about Antiviral drug, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
