Influenza, or the flu, kills tens of thousands of people every year. Even with the rapidly evolving medical and pharmaceutical industries, scientists have not been able to develop a complete cure for the flu.
Researchers are continuously working to design novel drugs from the ground up in order to attack the flu virus. The process, however, is slow and often difficult. There are many different strains of the virus, each with the ability to mutate itself and become immune to the anti-virus drugs being developed by scientists.
Joshy Jacob, associate professor at the Emory University School of Medicine’s Department of Microbiology and Immunology, thinks he has found a promising solution. The details of his findings have been published in the journal Immunity.
In a study involving a frog species called Hydrophylax bahuvistara, which was discovered recently in India, Jacob found that its protective slime bursts flu viruses in mice models. When introduced into the mice’s bodies through their nasal passageways, the peptides found in the mucus on the frog’s skin were shown to cure the mice of fatal doses of the human flu virus.
The H. bahuvistara secretes this compound from its skin in order to protect it from bacterial and fungal infections. Jacob notes that it is strange that this compound, produced by the frog, can fight the human flu, which does not infect frogs in their natural environment.
Jacob thinks it is a coincidence and that the peptide must have evolutionary significance in killing other pathogens that are harmful to the frog. It just so happens that it is effective in destroying flu viruses without negatively affecting the infected organism’s healthy tissues.
He originally found the anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties of the frog’s mucus fascinating and decided to test them on viruses as well. This is when he discovered the mucus’ unique properties. Because the peptides are easily synthesized in the lab, he was able to test them one at a time against several strains of influenza.
This specific peptide in the H. bahuvistara’s mucus, which Jacob named “urumin” after a special type of Indian sword, works against the H1 influenza virus. This virus is responsible for H1N1 (also known as swine flu), which caused a sweeping epidemic in 2009 and is now circulating as part of the seasonal flu. However, the peptide is ineffective against some other flu strains, such as the H3N2 flu and influenza B viruses that have also been a part of the seasonal flu this year.
Urumin works by attacking a part of the flu virus called hemagglutinin. In this study, Jacob found that this makes urumin especially effective against flu viruses that have mutated to resist the effect of other types of antiviral drugs that kill the viruses at other points.
Jacob further tested this potential by attempting to produce mutant viruses that cannot be killed by urumin, but he was unable to succeed, proving the peptide’s potency.
“Urumin therefore has the potential to contribute to first-line anti-viral treatments during influenza outbreaks,” Jacob’s research team writes in their paper.
Jacob thinks that compounds found in the protective secretions of other species of frogs are bound to contain cures for a multitude of different viruses.
He speaks of not only the other flu strains, but also of HIV, hepatitis, Zika and Ebola. Jacob is optimistic about the prospects.
“It’s just a matter of searching and finding them,” he said to NBC.
However, he admits that even after discovering these compounds in other species of frogs, researchers would be faced with more hardships.
They would have to find frog slime secretions that don’t harm human tissue and also come up with a way to systematically deliver the drug. Most drugs that rely on peptides are administered intravenously or by injecting them directly into the veins.
This is not convenient and requires a medical professional to facilitate the process, so it would not be practical as an everyday treatment. Jacob hopes to develop an easily accessible drug that people can take as a pill.
Jacob recognizes the difficulty in developing a drug thinks he has found a path toward an eventual solution. The best drugs are found in nature, he said to NBC.
“The [drugs] in nature have evolved over millions of years and perfected themselves by trial and error. These work really, really well,” he said.
