New Therapy From Bananas Can Combat COVID-19, Flu Variants

Just a week before the first COVID-19 case in the United States was confirmed, a study suggested that there may be a possible treatment to combat all variants of the flu, as reported by SciTechDaily.

Treatment Based on Banana Protein Can Combat Against All Known Coronaviruses

While this work had to halt, the global team of researchers that were behind these efforts also delved into how the coronavirus could be treated. SciTechDaily also notes that professor David Markovitz expressed that they thought that MERS, or Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome, would be their great aim and that they were worried because of the virus' high fatality rate of 35%.

Now, thanks to continuous research efforts, a study published in the Cell Reports Medicine explains how H84T-BanLed, a protein from banana plants, can combat coronavirus infections in humans. These include the first SARS, MERS, and COVID-19, as well as the Omicron variant.

The research team comprised Markovitz along with other senior authors: Peter Hinterdorfer and Kwok-Yung Yuen.

Markovitz shared that when COVID-19 entered the picture, the team wanted to go deeper into the capacity of the therapy. They found out that the treatment worked against all kinds of coronavirus, in vivo and in vitro. He further noted that treatment was effective regardless of whether it was issued systematically, nasally delivered in animal subjects, prophylactically extended, or issued in the early stages of the illness.

H84T-BanLec: The Banana Protein Behind the Treatment

According to the University of Michigan Health Lab, H84T-BanLec is from a protein that binds carbohydrates that is isolated from the actual fruit. It is capable of remarkably blocking the virus by connecting to polysaccharides and high-mannose glycans that can be found on the virus' surface. However, these two can rarely be seen in the cells of normal and healthy humans.

Once the binding is complete, the virus is incapable of entering and infecting the cells.

In their study, the researchers were able to confirm that this protein creates several strong connections with the spike (S) protein, as noted by SciTechDaily. Markovitz shared that this could be the reason why it is difficult for a coronavirus to become resistant to lectins.

Even if they have the potential to be anti-viral, lectins were generally avoided in therapy due to their capacity to prompt the immune system in a manner that could be harmful. However, H84T-BanLec was modified so that this effect would be removed. Thanks to this, no harmful effects were observed on animal models.

Though several therapies for COVID-19 are already present, each one varies in terms of side effects, effectiveness, and ease of use. Several of these recognized treatments have also been seen to become less effective as the virus evolves.

The team is full of hope about the potential of H84T-BanLec because of its effectiveness against COVID-19 variants and influenza viruses. The team is hopeful to proceed with testing on more complex animal models and eventually, on humans as well. They envision the creation of drops or nasal sprays to prevent or handle COVID-19 and flu infections.

Beyond this, they also hope to check how H84T-BanLec can perform against cancer, considering how the surfaces of cancer cells are also armed with high mannose glycans.

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