8 Studies Support Ivermectin's Effectiveness Against Influenza Amid Bird Flu Pandemic Worries
"Wonder drug."
As the H5N1 influenza A virus (IAV) infects birds and mammals, including humans, across the world, health experts are warning a bird flu pandemic could be “100 times worse” than COVID-19.
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Questions are raised about safe, effective, currently available medical treatments for the disease.
Enter ivermectin, a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved broad spectrum anti-parasitic agent that has been shown to have anti-viral activity against a broad range of viruses, including influenza.
The drug is not toxic at a standard dose, is safe for pregnant women, and is even widely used in veterinary medicine due to its safety and efficacy.
Ivermectin Halts Influenza Virus in Its Tracks by Blocking Key Pathway into Cell Nucleus: Journal ‘Nature: Scientific Reports’
In a striking breakthrough published March 2020 in Nature: Scientific Reports, scientists revealed the potent ability of ivermectin, an existing drug known for its parasitic treatment capabilities, to inhibit the influenza A (bird flu) virus from hijacking human cells.
The study hinges on the intricate process by which the flu virus invades cells, emphasizing the role of ivermectin in thwarting this process.
Flu viruses must navigate into the cell’s nucleus, where our genetic material resides, to replicate and spread.
This journey relies on the “importin-α/β nuclear import complex”—essentially a passageway that the virus exploits to breach the nucleus.
Here, ivermectin intervenes by effectively sealing off this pathway.
“Treatment with ivermectin completely abrogated nuclear import of all different vRNPs resulting in no detectable reporter activity,” the study reads, underscoring the drug’s unique capability to halt the flu virus’s advance dead in its tracks, preventing it from infiltrating the nucleus and multiplying.
The efficacy of ivermectin was weighed against other compounds, such as N-(4-hydroxyphenyl) retinamide (4-HPR) and its non-inhibitory counterpart, through the infection of LMH cells with various viral particles.
Notably, the study observes that “reporter activity was comparable between non-treated cells and cells treated with the inactive compound” for all viral constructs, highlighting ivermectin’s standout performance.
In other words, cells treated with ivermectin showed no signs of the virus making its way into the nucleus, while cells treated with other compounds did not have the same level of protection.
Further, using immunofluorescence microscopy to track the virus’s location within the cell, the research detailed that, after infection, “vRNPs were enriched in the nucleus of wild-type but not mutant-infected cells treated with DMSO or inactive 4-MPR,” while ivermectin-treated cells showcased no such viral infiltration.
The study’s language emphasizes the thoroughness of this blockade: “treatment with 4-HPR led to retention of wild-type NP in the cytoplasm,” delineating ivermectin’s precise inhibitory action.
Crucially, the findings articulate a broader scientific consensus that the influenza virus’s penetration into the cell nucleus is mostly accomplished through the “importin-α/β nuclear import complex.”
This pathway’s blockade by ivermectin suggests that “MxA escape mutations do not enable alternative importin-independent pathways,” reinforcing the critical role of the importin-α/β pathway in the influenza A virus lifecycle and ivermectin’s potential as a targeted antiviral treatment.
The Nature study not only advances our comprehension of the influenza virus’s cellular invasion mechanism but also positions ivermectin as a promising contender in the quest for effective flu treatments.
By preventing the virus’s entry into the cell nucleus, ivermectin could represent a significant leap forward in our ongoing battle against influenza.
Five Studies Support the ‘Nature: Scientific Reports’ Findings
A comprehensive systematic review summarizing studies over the prior 50 years on the antiviral effects of ivermectin published in Nature’s Journal of Antibiotics in June 2020 characterized ivermectin as “a wonder drug.”
The review confirms that ivermectin “proposes many potentials effects to treat a range of diseases, with its antimicrobial, antiviral, and anti-cancer properties.”
“It is highly effective against many microorganisms including some viruses,” the review emphasizes.
The review authors cited the March 2020 Scientific Reports publication as evidence for ivermectin’s ability to prevent the influenza virus’s cellular transmission, supporting the earlier study:
“In an in vitro study using chicken hepatocellular carcinoma cells infected with Avian influenza A virus, which is a negative-sense, single-stranded, segmented RNA virus from the Orthomyxoviridae family, treatment with 10 µM ivermectin completely prevented the nuclear transmission of different types of viral ribonucleoprotein complexes.”
Another June 2020 study published in Antiviral Research likewise cited the 2016 Nature piece, underscoring ivermectin’s “demonstrated” ability to limit infection by RNA viruses such as influenza and further supporting the earlier study.
A third study published July 2020 in Scientia Pharmaceutica also referenced the 2016 Nature piece, confirming that ivermectin represents “an FDA-approved antiparasitic agent with antiviral activity against a broad range of viruses, such as influenza.”
Ivermectin has “exerted inhibitory activities against several RNA viruses” and has “shown potential antiviral activity by inhibiting the nuclear transport of viral proteins,” the authors write, further still confirming the findings of the Nature: Scientific Reports paper.
Fourth, a May 2022 publication in the Microbiology Independent Research Journal affirmed the Scientific Reports article showed ivermectin “has been shown to impede infection caused by… influenza virus.”
“Therefore, ivermectin could be used as a potential IAV NEP protein blocker in the treatment of influenza that would be another successful example of drug repurposing,” the authors write.
Finally, a May 2020 publication in Antiviral Research verified that the Scientific Reports paper showed ivermectin is “demonstrated to limit infection” by influenza.
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Ivermectin Blocks Influenza Virus Replication by Binding to Critical NEP Protein: ‘Microbiology Independent Research Journal’
An April 2022 study published in the Microbiology Independent Research Journal has uncovered a promising new use for ivermectin in the fight against the influenza A virus (IAV).
The study, conducted through advanced molecular docking techniques, suggests that ivermectin could play a critical role in hindering the life cycle of the IAV by targeting a key protein involved in the virus’s replication process.
The influenza A virus has a protein known as the nuclear export protein (NEP) that is crucial for the virus’s ability to replicate and spread.
The researchers focused on this protein, revealing that “ivermectin strongly binds to NEP with an affinity of –7.3 kcal/mol,” demonstrating a significant potential for ivermectin to disrupt the NEP’s function.
This interaction specifically occurs in an area critical for the virus’s assembly.
The study explains that the NEP protein is instrumental in transporting newly synthesized viral components out of the host cell’s nucleus, a step essential for the influenza virus to propagate.
Ivermectin’s binding to NEP, particularly at a site essential for its interaction with another viral protein, matrix protein 1 (M1), suggests that the drug could “have a considerably deleterious effect on IAV assembly and propagation.”
Highlighting the specificity of ivermectin’s action, the researchers detailed the exact binding site on NEP, noting interactions with several key amino acids.
Among these, “amino acids Arg66, Leu69, Glu74, Glu75, Trp78, Glu110, and Arg114 were found to be conserved,” pinpointing the precision with which ivermectin targets the NEP.
Moreover, the study’s findings are grounded in robust scientific evidence, leveraging the capabilities of the CB-Dock server to identify five potential ivermectin binding sites on NEP.
The most promising of these was highlighted by its high AutoDock Vina score, indicating a strong affinity between ivermectin and the NEP protein.
The implications of these findings are significant.
By potentially blocking the NEP-M1 protein interaction, ivermectin could severely disrupt the influenza virus’s life cycle.
This revelation positions ivermectin as “a promising anti-IAV drug molecule,” according to the research team.
The researchers advocate for further exploration of ivermectin as a potential therapeutic strategy against the influenza virus, building on the promising results of their study.
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Ivermectin Targets and Disables Host's Cellular Transport Proteins to Halt Influenza Virus Replication: Journal ‘Antiviral Research’
A May 2020 publication in Antiviral Research unveiled a novel function of the widely-used drug, ivermectin, highlighting its potential as a formidable weapon against RNA viruses such as influenza.
The research casts a spotlight on ivermectin’s “broad spectrum antiviral activity” and its unique mechanism of action targeting the host’s cellular machinery.
The study’s findings reveal that ivermectin exerts its antiviral effects by interacting with the host’s importin (IMP) α/β1 nuclear transport proteins.
These proteins play a pivotal role in the nuclear entry of viral components, which is essential for the replication of viruses like influenza within the host cell.
The researchers have established, “for the first time,” that ivermectin is capable of disrupting the function of these proteins by “dissociate[ing] the preformed IMPα/β1 heterodimer, as well as prevent[ing] its formation.”
This disruption occurs through ivermectin’s binding to the IMPα armadillo (ARM) repeat domain, affecting the protein’s stability and function.
Further detailing the mechanism, the study explains how ivermectin impacts the “IMPα thermal stability and α-helicity,” which are critical for the proper functioning of the IMPα protein.
This interference with the protein’s structure and stability is a key aspect of ivermectin’s antiviral action.
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They create the problem too become the supposed solution. It's all about equity and depopulation
I must be confused... "covid" didn't affect me at all. If the liars and deceivers weren't throwing a constant barrage of fear mongering at us, I probably would have never even heard of "it". So; here's my question: If I never had any cold or flu, or was otherwise not sick AT ALL, since long before 2020...what would "100 times worse" look like?
As for the wonder drug Ivermectin - there are 100's of peer reviewed studies on it. The problem for Big Pharma is - they can't make a profit off it!