April 8, 2020
Resveratrol boosts immunity against coronavirus
Resveratrol is a kind of natural antioxidant, it can reduce blood viscosity, inhibit platelet coagulation and vasodilation, keep the blood unblocked.It also can prevent the occurrence and development of cancer, it has the prevention and treatment of atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease, ischemic heart disease, hyperlipidemia.The anti-tumor effect also has estrogen-like effect, can be used to treat breast cancer and other diseases.
After the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003, and before the emergence of the "NEW" coronavirus in 2019/2020, there was another serious coronavirus: Middle East respiratory syndrome, referred to as" MERS’’, which was discovered in Saudi Arabia in 2012.
According to the WHO, 842 of the 2,442 people infected with MERS in May 2019 died, so giving the virus a fatality rate of about 35%.Like SARS and the novel coronavirus of 2020, MERS is thought to be zoonotic or caused by cross-species transmission of animal diseases -- primarily bats.
However, research published in (BMC Infectious Diseases) in 2017 has some positive news for MERS:
"Resveratrol can significantly inhibits MERS-CoV infection, extending the survival time of cells after infection with the virus.We also found that after treatment with resveratrol, the expression of nucleocapsid protein (N) necessary for MERS-CoV replication decreased.
In addition, resveratrol can down-regulate MERS-CoV induced apoptosis."By taking resveratrol continuously, we are able to reduce the concentration of resveratrol and at the same time inhibit MERS-CoV."
Some scientific evidence already exists that may account for the effects of resveratrol in these studies, the researchers wrote.A number of previous studies have found that resveratrol reduces the production of nitric oxide and inflammation in tissues, and suppresses Epstein's virus, enterovirus, herpes simplex virus, influenza virus and respiratory syncytial virus.
Resveratrol also inhibits helicobacter pylori, staphylococcus aureus and toxoplasma gondii.Still, the Middle East respiratory syndrome study found impressive results:
"To determine whether resveratrol inhibits the entry or subsequent steps of mers-cov infection, we added resveratrol and mers-cov three hours or immediately after the onset of infection.We measured cell proliferation and measured the viral titer in the supernatant...
The results showed that even after mers-cov infection, resveratrol still reduced the titer of the virus.The same results were observed when measuring cell proliferation and viral titer, suggesting that resveratrol inhibited mers-cov infection after entry.
These data suggest that resveratrol treatment inhibits the replication of mers-covrna, although relatively high concentrations of resveratrol are required to provide a long-lasting antiviral effect...Our results suggest that resveratrol reduces mers-cov-mediated apoptosis."
The sooner the resveratrol is studied, the better.Antibiotics used to fight SARS, such as ribavirin, lopinavir/ritonavir and type I interferon, are not effective, but may cause kidney dysfunction and other side effects, the researchers wrote.
Resveratrol has also been shown to be effective against chikungunya disease.Chikungunya is a mosquito-borne virus that is endemic in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Indian and Pacific oceans.The researchers wrote:
"Not only does resveratrol inhibit the production of mers-cov, but concentrations of 250 and 125 M also decrease the production of chikungunya virus.In summary, our data suggest that resveratrol may be a prime candidate for further preclinical antiviral activity evaluation of MERS-CoV and other emerging RNA viruses.