Cinchona bark
When the Japanese occupied Indonesia in 1942 they cut off the rest of the world from the main supplies of Cinchona. That's when synthetic antimalarials were developed and #chloroquine became the drug of choice.
Side note: #Artemisinin is now used for Chloroquine-resistant strains.
#Hydroxychloroquine is a modification of an earlier drug called #chloroquine, which in turn is a synthetic version of a natural drug derived from #Cinchonabark (quinine).
The bark of the Cinchona tree bent the curve of medical and human history. It was brought by Jesuit priests to Europe. For that reason is also called Jesuit’s bark.
Hydroxychloroquine is a modification of chloroquine where a hydroxyl group (-OH) was appended to the side chain to reduce toxicity and was approved for medical use in the US in 1955.
In the years since chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine were approved in the US, we’ve learned a few things about these #antimalarialdrugs. We know now that these drugs accumulate in lysosomes and inhibit their acidification, which has subsequent effects on a range of cellular processes, including antigen presentation. We know these drugs reduce cytokine production by macrophages and inhibit toll-like receptor signaling and a variety of other immune pathways.
In a 2021 study researchers said...
⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️
"In Vero cells, quinine inhibited SARS-CoV-2 infection more effectively than CQN, and H-CQN and was less toxic."
⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️
They went on to say...
"Finally, we confirmed our findings in Calu-3 lung cells, expressing ACE2 and TMPRSS2 endogenously. In Calu-3, infections with high titers of SARS-CoV-2 were 👉completely blocked by quinine."👈
Study: Quinine Inhibits Infection of Human Cell Lines with SARS-CoV-2 https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/13/4/647/pdf
Also, TNF-α, the most important cytokine in determining the severity of COVID-19 symptoms, is inhibited by quinine.
Quinine is rarely categorised as an immunomodulatory agent, but it has immunostimulant and immunosuppressant activities against viral infections. Wheb quinine effectively intensifies the production of the well-known cytokine IFN-α, it functions as an immunostimulator to inhibit viruses. Otherwise, quinine inhibits the release of TNF-α and has an immunosuppressant effect. These two different activities may have a beneficial effect on people who are infected with COVID-19.
Sources:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29737660/
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinine
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesuit%27s_bark
https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/2020/2560645/
When the Japanese occupied Indonesia in 1942 they cut off the rest of the world from the main supplies of Cinchona. That's when synthetic antimalarials were developed and #chloroquine became the drug of choice.
Side note: #Artemisinin is now used for Chloroquine-resistant strains.
#Hydroxychloroquine is a modification of an earlier drug called #chloroquine, which in turn is a synthetic version of a natural drug derived from #Cinchonabark (quinine).
The bark of the Cinchona tree bent the curve of medical and human history. It was brought by Jesuit priests to Europe. For that reason is also called Jesuit’s bark.
Hydroxychloroquine is a modification of chloroquine where a hydroxyl group (-OH) was appended to the side chain to reduce toxicity and was approved for medical use in the US in 1955.
In the years since chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine were approved in the US, we’ve learned a few things about these #antimalarialdrugs. We know now that these drugs accumulate in lysosomes and inhibit their acidification, which has subsequent effects on a range of cellular processes, including antigen presentation. We know these drugs reduce cytokine production by macrophages and inhibit toll-like receptor signaling and a variety of other immune pathways.
In a 2021 study researchers said...
⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️
"In Vero cells, quinine inhibited SARS-CoV-2 infection more effectively than CQN, and H-CQN and was less toxic."
⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️
They went on to say...
"Finally, we confirmed our findings in Calu-3 lung cells, expressing ACE2 and TMPRSS2 endogenously. In Calu-3, infections with high titers of SARS-CoV-2 were 👉completely blocked by quinine."👈
Study: Quinine Inhibits Infection of Human Cell Lines with SARS-CoV-2 https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/13/4/647/pdf
Also, TNF-α, the most important cytokine in determining the severity of COVID-19 symptoms, is inhibited by quinine.
Quinine is rarely categorised as an immunomodulatory agent, but it has immunostimulant and immunosuppressant activities against viral infections. Wheb quinine effectively intensifies the production of the well-known cytokine IFN-α, it functions as an immunostimulator to inhibit viruses. Otherwise, quinine inhibits the release of TNF-α and has an immunosuppressant effect. These two different activities may have a beneficial effect on people who are infected with COVID-19.
Sources:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29737660/
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinine
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesuit%27s_bark
https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/2020/2560645/