A peptide (called urumin) obtained from the Hydrophylax bahuvistara frog that lives in southern India is capable of killing dozens of strains of the H1 flu virus, according to experiments carried out in mice by experts from Emory University, in Atlanta (USA).
And is that the mucus of frogs is full of molecules that kill bacteria and viruses. Therefore, the scientists obtained a peptide from this medium-sized frog that lives in the province of Kerala, in southern India, discovering its potential to eliminate the H1 flu virus in mice, as it is lethal for many strains of the virus flu, from viruses archived in 1934 to the most modern.
” Different frogs produce different peptides, depending on their habitat. Virtually all animals generate them as defense mechanisms for their immune systems. However, frogs have attracted the most attention as a source of defense peptides because they are relatively easy to isolate from The method consists of giving these amphibians a small electric shock or rubbing a powder on their skin to secrete these compounds that can then be collected, “says Joshy Jacob, co-author of the work.
To arrive at this discovery, the experts analyzed 32 frog defense peptides against an influenza / flu strain and discovered that four of them had properties to attack the flu.
By exposing isolated human red blood cells in a laboratory dish to the peptides, three of them were toxic but one of them, called urumin, was harmless to human cells, but lethal to the influenza virus.
After this, they tested the efficacy of the compound in a group of rodents with the same result. The researchers believe that the peptide attacks a viral surface protein called hemaggluttinin (the H in H1N1): ” The virus needs this protein to enter our cells. What this peptide does is bind to the hemagglutinin, destabilize the virus and then kill him, “Jacob ends.
The study has been published in the journal Immunity.
