The Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa has brought the scientific community together, prompting different health networks to work cooperatively in an effort to come up with a cure or possibly a way to prevent the further spread of the deadly disease. Most recently, the experimental drugs that were allowed by the World Health Organization to be used ethically for the treatment of the victims of the disease have shown positive results, but health experts say that there is still a long way to go to a definite cure for Ebola is announced.
Researchers from the University of Liverpool have recently announced a breakthrough in their studies, claiming that they may have found A relevant link that could lead to finding a cure for the Ebola virus. During the course of their research studies, they stumbled upon a drug that is being used currently as a treatment for severe heart disease, which, they say, can be modified to fight the contagious virus. During the study, they observed how the Ebola virus "hijacks" proteins inside the cells. They identified the protein known as VP24 as one of the proteins that are critical to the virulence of Ebola, because once the Ebola virus seizes this protein it triggers its action to disrupt the signal that human cells normally give out to the immune system during an infection so that it could begin to fight the virus. The researchers then set out to find existing drugs that could be used to block the function of VP24 and their investigation led to the drug ouabain that is used for heart disease. They found that administering this drug reduced the replication the Ebola virus significantly.
The team will need to conduct further tests using the drug for using the drug for treating the Ebola virus, but it's safety for use in humans has already been completely established since it is already being used to treat another condition. This is good news for the researchers send it will speed up the time it takes for the treatment to be disseminated to patients that need the most. Lead researcher, Julian Hiscox, said that, "This study shows how existing therapeutics can be identified and potentially repurposed for antiviral here. The technique of using existing intestate drugs for a different purpose can save considerable time and ultimately, lives."