Two coronavirus drugs used in cats might help humans infected with the novel coronavirus, according to a preliminary study recently published in the journal Nature.
The drugs, dipeptide-based protein inhibitors, referred to as GC376 and GC373, are designed to treat cats with feline infectious peritonitis, a potentially fatal illness caused by another type of coronavirus, feline enteric coronavirus (FCoV), according to a press release about the study. The release explained that FCoV is a coronavirus that has traits similar to the SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing COVID-19.
“The main protease in feline form of coronavirus and the virus associated with feline infectious peritonitis is highly homologous compared to the SARS-CoV2 protease associated with COVID-19,” Joanne Lemieux, a professor in the department of biochemistry at the University of Alberta, stated in the release. The success in treating cats with the medication may carry over to helping humans infected with COVID-19, the researcher said. (Fox News)
For full details, click: https://www.foxnews.com/health/cat-drugs-fight-coronavirus-humans-study