Can medication for other ailments fight Covid? Study shows gout medication can

The study found that probenecid blocks the replication of an individual’s cells by viruses – including SARS-CoV-2, thereby stopping them from causing infection in the health system.

Findings of a recent research by the University of Georgia (UGA) have suggested that probenecid – an FDA-approved medication typically used to treat gout, has broad antiviral components thereby making it a prime candidate to fight SARS-CoV-2 infection – which causes coronavirus disease (Covid-19).

Researchers of the study said that probenecid - an FDA-approved medication mainly used to treat gout, may also boost the efficacy of Covid-19 treatment.

“This antiviral works for all RNA respiratory viruses we tested, including SARS-CoV-2. RSV, coronavirus, and flu all circulate in the same season. The bottom line is you can potentially reduce infection and disease using this one oral drug,” lead author of the study, Ralph Tripp said.

According to Mayo Clinic, gout is a common and complex form of arthritis and is known to cause “sudden, severe attacks of pain, swelling, redness and tenderness in one of more joints, most often in the big toe.”

Viruses function by co-opting a person’s own cells to replicate and produce more of the virus. Probenecid curtails this duplication process, thus keeping the virus from infecting an individual’s cells.

In the clinical development of the study at a pharmaceutical firm called ‘TrippBio’, Tripp revealed that the drug was found that the drug works as a prophylactic before virus exposure and as a post-exposure treatment in animal models against SARS-CoV-2 and flu. Probenecid has also proven effective in combatting the RSV in vitro, and in vivo studies are in progress.

“These treatments have seen some effectiveness against SARS-CoV-2, but they’re very expensive and very hard to come by,” Tripp, who is a GRA eminent scholar of vaccine and therapeutic studies in UGA’s college of veterinary medicine, said.

The author was mentioning Remdesivir and monoclonal antibodies – which are presently the standard treatments for seriously ill coronavirus patients. These can only be administered via an IV. “In reality, there are only a handful of options that can actually be used because of the cost, restricted IV usage, and lack of access. That's not very useful to the world,” Tripp pointed out.

On the contrary, Probenecid is widely available and has been in the US market for more than four decades. Moreover, repurposing drugs that are already known to work against one ailment is not a novelty. For instance, remdesivir was originally known to defeat the Ebola virus, but when it showed promise in combatting SARS-CoV-2, it was enlisted in treatment of coronavirus.

Researchers of the study said that besides preventing illness before it even kicks in, probenecid may also potentially boost the efficacy of other treatments. Probenecid is already used to augment the potency of some antibiotics, thus it’s possible that the medication could work the same way with other coronavirus-related treatments as well.

Tripp cautioned that all the three respiratory conditions – SARS-CoV-2, RSV and flu – have a “huge impact on health systems” across the globe. “Probenecid has a potent antiviral effect against these viruses, and it works safely,” the author added.

(With inputs from ANI)