Gas Used in Viagra Is New Hope Against Coronavirus

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Ongoing studies at the Massachusetts General Hospital in the United States are seeking to determine whether family treatment in medical settings could help save patients infected with the novel coronavirus and prevent intubation.

The treatment involves nitric oxide, a fast-acting gas that dilates blood vessels in the lungs when inhaled. Treatment is often used in premature babies. In the 1990s, this gas played a key role in the development of the Viagra drug, against erectile dysfunction. The main ingredient in the blue pill, sildenafil, enhances the effect of nitric oxide in the body and increases blood flow.

The gas is made up of one part nitrogen and one part oxygen, the two most common gases in the atmosphere. Preliminary data suggest that inhaled nitric oxide can kill the Covid-19 virus, according to a statement from the Massachusetts General Hospital released by CNBC.

Studies during the SARS outbreak in 2004-2005 showed that nitric oxide was effective in killing the virus. Now the effectiveness of the compound against the novel coronavirus needs to be studied.

Nitric oxide treatment is added to others researched by doctors and scientists in the fight against Covid-19 worldwide. Recently, the United States released the use of the drug Remdesivir in emergency cases in patients with covid-19, said President Donald Trump in a press conference at the White House on Friday, May 1st.

The drug has shown positive results in the recovery of hospitalized patients, speeding the process of recovery. The FDA, the agency regulating drugs in the country, authorized the use of Remdesivir in emergencies, which allows its entry into the US market without the requirement of complete data on its safety and efficacy.

[Nitric oxide should not be confused with nitrous oxide (N₂O) or laughing gas, which is an anesthetic, or with nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), a brown gas and major air pollutant.]

Another drug targeted for research is chloroquine and its less toxic variant, hydroxychloroquine. Nitazoxanide, from the drug Annita, is also being studied in Brazil.

Over 130 treatments against coronavirus are under study, according to the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA). Unprecedented collaborative efforts in the pharmaceutical industry have considerably expedited research into safe treatments for Covid-19.

Brazil has reached the fourth successive day on a new level of the Covid-19 pandemic. With 6,209 cases and 428 deaths in 24 hours, the number of people infected with the novel coronavirus has climbed to 91,589 and the total number of deaths has now reached 6,329. The data were released by the Ministry of Health.

Since last Tuesday, the country has recorded over 5,000 cases and more than 400 deaths a day linked to Covid-19, becoming one of the epicenters of the disease in the world – according to data from Johns Hopkins University (USA), only the United States has had more new cases than Brazil.

Source: Exame