What to do when you get the sore, swollen throat of strep throat or the painful, yellow oozing of an infected cut? Take an antibiotic.
What to do when you get the pesky coughing and sneezing of the common cold/flu or the itchy spots of chicken pox? Take an antiviral?
Not always.
The trouble with antiviral medications is that, unlike their widely used counterpart the antibiotic, they tend to damage human cells as well as nasty virus particles. Antibiotics (which kill bacteria not viruses) do minimal damage (relatively) to our own nearby cells.
Only a handful antivirals are approved by the FDA for use in the United States, and each are prescribed scantily. But, a molecule dubbed LJ001 is making antivirals look flashy.
This month, UCLA researchers reported LJ001 efficiently assails viruses like HIV-1, influenza A, filoviruses, poxviruses, arenaviruses, bunyaviruses, paramyxoviruses and flaviviruses that cause some of the world's most dangerous diseases.
LJ001 attacks the envelope wrapped around the virus's DNA as well as attacking human host cell membranes, but it does so in such a way that host cells can repair themselves while a virus's damage is irreparable.
No other antiviral can attack so many types of viruses. No other antiviral can do so without assaulting our own healthy cells.
Selective killing. LJ3000* has got all the trappings of a drug industry darling. (Guess that's why UCLA filed for a patent for use of the compound.)
But, let's not get too ahead of ourselves here. LJ3000 is yet to be tested in clinical trials, so we're still far away from an over-the-counter miracle drug. Still, pretty cool stuff.
*my nickname
