Transition Metals – A potential tool against COVID-19

Agrima Bhatt, Rajasthan University

The present COVID-19 pandemic has impacted all of the world and its inhabitants. However, depending on our status as individuals as well as members of society, the pandemic’s impact and repercussions were perceived at different scales. While some people are starting to adjust to working online, online education and schooling for their children, and getting food through Instacart, others are forced to be infected to keep civilization running. 

COVID-19 has caused devastation on a large scale. It’s a novel virus that is wreaking havoc around the world since it spreads mostly through direct contact with people. It spreads from transmission via person to person within 6 feet of individuals nearby. The globe is in the grip of a coronavirus pandemic, which has forever transformed humans and their social life. Long after the infection has died down, its impact and unintended consequences will be felt. COVID-19 is a coronavirus-related respiratory illness. Some people are infected but have no symptoms, referred to as asymptomatic. The majority of people will experience minor symptoms that will go away on their own. However, some people will experience severe difficulties, such as difficulty breathing.

Current methodologies adopted against COVID-19:

In an investigative study of more than 365,000 homes in the United Kingdom, a single dose of the COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by either Pfizer or AstraZeneca reduces a person’s chance of transmitting coronavirus to their closest contacts by as much as half.

Vaccines can cause different types of immunological responses in the human body, such as the production of antibody molecules that bind to and inhibit infectious viruses, as well as the activation of T cells that kill virus-infected cells. Scientists might be able to easily judge prospective vaccinations if they could identify immunological responses that can predict vaccine success.

Aside from vaccination, WHO has recommended to hospitals, physicians across the globe the usage of anti-viral drugs as a potential treatment against coronavirus. Antiviral or antimalarial medicines, such as remdesivir, chloroquine/hydroxychloroquine, bemcentinib, disulfiram, sarilumab, tocilizumab, etc., or a combination of antiviral -CoV-2 infection based on in vitro inhibitory potential of SARS-CoV-2 viral proteins or interleukins were identified as an important tool in this pandemic. 

Transition metals as a potential tool for COVID-19 Treatment:

Transition metals such as Fe, Ru, Co, Pd, V, Ni, Mn, Zn, Cu, Au, Pt have been reported to have antiviral properties against deadly diseases such as Ebola, Influenza, HIV, and SARS viruses. It works on the principle of interfering with primary viral pathogenetic processes, inhibits viral entry into host cells, and inhibiting RNA replication and multiplication of virus through budding processes. 

The unique physicochemical properties of transition metals such as longer wavelength absorption, exceptional emission properties, low toxicity in vivo, extremely singlet oxygen quantum yield, and so on, metalloporphyrin has become a vital product in the field of biomedicine, especially in recent years, such as in PDT for cancer treatment, MRI contrasting agent, anti-viral agent, bio-imaging, and so on.

Usage of metallacarboranes compounds in biomedical research has expanded dramatically over the last few years. Hundreds of boron cluster compounds have been reported to possess important biological activities in vitro or in vivo, including bioimaging, chemotherapeutics, antiviral characteristics, and so on.

Also read: Morbillivirus- A deadly marine mammal virus

Reference:

1. Pal, M., Musib, D., Zade, A. J., Chowdhury, N., & Roy, M. (2021). Computational Studies of Selected Transition Metal Complexes as Potential Drug Candidates against the SARS‐CoV‐2 Virus. ChemistrySelect, 6(29), 7429–7435. https://doi.org/10.1002/slct.202101852

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Author info:

Agrima Bhatt is an undergraduate student studying BSc. Biotechnology in Jaipur, Rajasthan. She is a science and research enthusiast who also loves to write articles and short snippets.

Some of her published articles at BioXone are:

1. https://bioxone.in/news/worldnews/molecular-mechanisms-underlying-virescent-mutation-in-cotton/
2. https://bioxone.in/news/worldnews/multi-angle-projection-microscope-a-novel-imaging-technique/
3. https://bioxone.in/news/worldnews/scientists-develop-novel-cholera-vaccine-from-rice-grains/
4. https://bioxone.in/news/worldnews/ai-predicts-the-relation-between-viruses-and-mammals/