According to a study conducted in fruit flies and mice, a drug developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), reversed the heart damage caused by a protein in the SARS-COV-2 virus. Researchers from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, US, identified how a specific protein in SARS-COV-2, the virus responsible for Covid-19, ruins heart tissue.
Then, they used the drug named 2DG, to reverse the toxic effects of that protein on the heart. It is an oral drug, which hinders the process of glycolysis and prevents the growth of the virus. People infected with Covid are at a significantly higher risk for developing inflammation of the heart muscle, abnormal heart rhythms, blood clots, stroke, heart attacks and heart failure for at least a year post infection, compared to those who haven’t been infected with the virus.
The scientists from the University of Maryland used a drug to reverse the toxic effects of SARS-COV-2 virus protein on the heart. Although 2DG has not been approved by the US food and drug administration to treat the disease, it is in clinical trials at present for the treatment of Covid in India.