Scientists of the University of Pennsylvania in the United States showed that the drug Diabzi activates congenital immunity to effectively fight against the difficult form of COVID-19. This is reported in an article published in the journal Science Immunology.
In the course of the study, experts conducted a screening of 75 drugs aimed at biochemical pathways in the lungs. They found nine candidates, including two cyclic dinucleotides (CDN), which significantly suppressed infection through the activation of the STING – interferon gene stimulator. However, CDN-based drugs are low efficient, so scientists tested the synthetic sting agonist called Diabzi.
Researchers experienced a single dose of Diabzi on mice infected with SARS-COV-2, and found out that the drug effectively suppresses the infection of various strains, including the South African version B.1.351. It is also shown that Diabzi inhibits the replication of a human and rinovirus paragrippa virus in cultivated cells. Thus, the Sting agonist may be more effective against other respiratory viruses.