Inhalable Nanobodies Can Cure Coronavirus

By: | June 4th, 2021

Image courtesy Pixabay

Researchers from the University Of Pittsburgh School Of Medicine have discovered a way to cure the Coronavirus with Inhalable Nanobodies. Researchers explained that they have developed an “effective, low-cost therapeutic intervention” to block the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Syrian hamsters.

Imagine if this works, there will be no need to drive anxiously for miles to a vaccination center. But one could simply pick up a gadget with inhalable nanobodies for curing and preventing infections from COVID-19.

Although the research is at a very early stage, it could provide a needle-free alternative to monoclonal antibodies for treating infections. This therapy is called the Pittsburgh inhalable Nanobody 21 (PiN-21). In this therapy, the nanobody will be administered directly through the nose or by inhalation.

The study proved that this therapy could prevent and treat severe COVID-19 in hamsters. But researchers have still to check whether this treatment could work for humans or not.

The researchers aerosolized the nanobodies using a nebulizer and tested these in hamsters. An ultralow dose of about 0.2 mg/kg, aerosolized PiN-21 nanobodies was given. Such a small dose reversed weight loss in animals infected with the coronavirus. It also helped in reducing the number of infectious virus particles in the lungs, throats, and nasal cavities by a million times.

Authors wrote, “We envision that PiN-21 aerosolization treatment could provide both a convenient and cost-effective solution to alleviate disease onset and reduce virus transmission, especially for mild COVID-19 patients who constitute major populations of infections,”

Nidhi Goyal

Nidhi is a gold medalist Post Graduate in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences.

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