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Updated: 2003-05-15 01:00

Cold-Fighting Drug May Be Used Against SARS (2003/05/15)

千呼万唤始出来 抗非典药物有望面世 (2003/05/15)

Cold-Fighting Drug May Be Used Against SARS

The map of SARS [newsphoto.com.cn]

Researchers in Germany said on Tuesday they had found a weakness in the SARS virus and said a drug being tested against the common cold could be modified to battle the deadly illness.

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome has killed 580 people and infected more than 7,000 worldwide. Carried around the world by air travelers, it is caused by a never-before-seen strain of coronavirus.

But this new virus has a weak point called a protease, the researchers report in this week's issue of the journal Science. A protease is key to the replication of the virus. If the virus cannot replicate, it cannot cause illness.

"If you hit this target successfully you have hit the Achilles' heel of the virus," said Rolf Hilgenfeld of the University of Luebeck in Germany, who led the study.

The researchers have been working with relatives of the SARS virus -- one that causes the common cold in people and another that causes diarrhea in pigs.

The protease used by these two SARS cousins is very similar to that used by SARS, Hilgenfeld said.

Hilgenfeld's lab has a drug that blocks the protease, but it is too toxic to use in people. But they found a similar drug being tested against a rhinovirus -- another cause of the common cold.

"Therefore we conclude that a drug that was originated to target a rhinovirus might be a good starting point for the development of drugs against coronaviruses, including the SARS virus."

(Agencies)

 

德国的研究者5月13日声称,他们已经发现了非典病毒的弱点。并称目前一种用于抗感冒的药有可能成为被改造成为抵抗SARS这种致命病毒的良药。

非典型性肺炎已经夺去了全世界580人的生命,另有7000人受到感染。非典病毒是由一种现今人类还没有见过的一种冠状病毒引起的,并通过空航这种途径在全世界范围内传播开的。

但是研究者们在本周《科学》周刊中发表的报告中说,这种新型病毒有一个弱点,那就是蛋白酶。蛋白酶是阻止非典病毒变异的关键物质。如果病毒不能变异,也就不能够诱发疾病了。

Cold-Fighting Drug May Be Used Against SARS德国吕贝克医科大学的罗尔夫·希尔根菲尔德是主持该项研究的科学家,他说:"如果能够成功攻克这个课题,我们也就找到了非典病毒的致命弱点。"

研究者已经对非典病毒的同类家族病毒进行了研究。其中一种是引起人类普通感冒的病毒,另一种是引起猪类痢疾的病毒。

罗尔夫·希尔根菲尔德说,上述两种病毒中含有的蛋白酶同非典病毒中的非常相似。

罗尔夫·希尔根菲尔德的实验室里有一种可以阻隔病毒中蛋白酶的药物,但是这种药物对人体毒性太大,因而不能用于人类。但是他们又发现了一种类似的用于对抗鼻病毒的药物,这种病毒是诱发普通感冒的另一个原因。

罗尔夫·希尔根菲尔德说:"因此,我们可以得出结论:由抗鼻病毒药物研制出药物有可能成为研发抗冠状病毒(包括非典病毒)药物的很好的开端。"

(中国日报网站译)

Notes:
Achilles' heel :致命弱点

 
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