Currently, there are no approved treatments specifically for Ebola. But new research indicates that selective antiviral activity, which could effectively treat Ebola infections, was found in 30 U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved drugs. Those drugs include selective estrogen receptor modulators, antihistamines, calcium channel blockers and antidepressants.
The research, recently published in Science Translational Medicine and led by Gene Olinger from the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, shows that mice infected with the virus responded positively to some of these drugs, and most of them survived.
The two frontrunner drugs that were effective were antidepressant Zoloft and Vascor, a calcium channel blocker used to treat heart disease.
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Iflscience detailed the findings:
Both protected mice from their Ebola infections by blocking the virus’ entry into the hosts’ cells. For each of the drugs, 10 mice were infected, then treated within an hour, and their survival was monitored for 28 days after virus exposure. Seven of the mice treated with Zoloft survived infection (that’s 70 percent), and all of the mice treated with Vascor lived. All of the infected control mice (those that weren’t treated) were dead by day 9.
Although these results don’t necessarily indicate how they would work in humans, and the dosages were higher than what would normally be prescribed for these drugs (potential for dangerous side effects), this research seems promising. If medications that are already FDA approved could be helpful in treating Ebola, in theory it could save time, money and potentially lives.
Photo: Flickr user NIAID
