The drug protected from the severe course of the disease
The drug used to treat alcoholism may reduce the risk of death from COVID-19. This conclusion was made by American scientists after analyzing the data of more than 2 thousand patients. According to them, the drug, which relieves cravings for alcohol, reduced the number of severe cases of COVID-19 by 34% and protected those who fell ill from death.
However, as noted by the scientific director of the network of clinics, Dr. Yuri Zakharov, Russian scientists were the first to pay attention to the drug disulfiram: last summer a group of chemists from the Higher School of Economics and the Institute of Organic Chemistry. N. D. Zelinsky Russian Academy of Sciences argued its promise in the fight against coronavirus using molecular modeling. The work of Russian scientists was published on the sciencedirect website. Scientists note that computer modeling for the purpose of researching drugs has become one of the main ways to understand whether a particular drug on the market can suppress the activity of the coronavirus in the body.
On January 26, 2020, scientists determined the structure of the main protease Mpro of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. And the search began for substances capable of suppressing it (inhibitors). Various broad-spectrum antiviral drugs against Mpro, including those for the treatment of HIV and hepatitis C, have been investigated through virtual screening. Among other candidates, our scientists have found unusually high efficacy of sulfur-containing drugs against the SARS-CoV-2 Mpro protease, including quite “ ancient “drug used in the treatment of alcoholism disulfiram. They say that among alcoholics it is known as “the bus”: they say “I got hit by a bus while I’m stuck.”
– Disulfiram is the oldest modern drug for the treatment of alcohol dependence. One of the least effective and at the same time quite toxic, – the famous psychiatrist, narcologist, professor Yuri Sivolap told MK. – But it has some additional effects, including beneficial effects on the course and prognosis of coronavirus infection. Some antidepressants, especially fluvoxamine, have a similar effect on COVID-19. I do not know if disulfiram is used today by doctors of covidarium, but since there is such data, we must try, since we can talk about saving people’s lives.
But the still widespread opinion among the people that alcoholics practically do not get sick with COVID-19, Yuri Pavlovich refutes: “They are sick, and harder than others. Alcoholism increases the risk of death from coronavirus infection. “
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