Study finds glucose-like metabolite effective against COVID-19

Chinese researchers have identified a glucose-like metabolite associated with diabetes in human blood with effective antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2, according to The Xinhua News Agency reports.

The findings, led by researchers from Tsinghua University, were published in the journal Nature Metabolism.

Previous studies show that the severity and mortality of COVID-19 are associated with pre-existing diseases such as diabetes. However, the underlying causes behind this have not yet been well established.

In this new study, researchers screened out more than 200 small-molecule metabolites and found that 1,5-anhydro-D-glucitol (1,5-AG), which is deficient in patients with diabetes, can inhibit cellular entry of SARS-CoV-2.

They found the level of SARS-CoV-2 replication is higher in the presence of serum from patients with diabetes than from healthy individuals, but this can be counteracted by 1,5-AG supplementation to the serum from patients.

According to molecular mechanism analysis, 1,5-AG presented an effective anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity by binding to the S2 subunit of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, thereby interrupting the process of virus-cell membrane fusion.

In experiments conducted on mice, researchers discovered that diabetic mice undergoing SARS-CoV-2 infection were accompanied by much higher viral loads and more severe respiratory tissue damage when compared to non-diabetic mice. Sustained 1,5-AG supplementation in diabetic mice reduced SARS-CoV-2 loads and disease severity to similar levels in non-diabetic mice.

The results suggest that 1,5-AG supplementation can help reduce such incidences and prevent severe COVID-19 in diabetics, according to the study.