Modified Sugar a new weapon against COVID-19
2-Deoxy-D-Glucose 2DG, an Adjuvant in COVID-19 Therapy Arsenal.
Dr. Rao Papineni lab was the earliest proponent of using 2-DG for polypharmacological action (in lay terms, multiple drug actions) against COVID-19. The hypothesis in this seminal publication (https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/irab20) states that polypharmacological effects of 2-DG on the virally-infected lung cells are by inhibition of glycolysis, modulation of inflammatory responses (cytokine storm) and alterations in glycosylation of viral proteins.
New analogs of 2-DG, coined as COVID AZ-Busters seem to be more potent in the prevention, protection, and therapy of COVID-19. Dr. Rao, a native of Madras settled in USA pioneered in the MolecularImaging of infection and cancer. Using fluorescent labelled 2-DG demonstrated infection localization in living animals a decade ago. It is like seeing bones inside our body using X-rays. Except that one needs sophisticated cameras to see the infection inside the living body.
Dr. Rao Papineni and his team from the University of Mississippi (Dr. Ritesh Tandon) and Dr. Adhikary of Oakland University have presented the experimental data at the ongoing AACR 2021 American Cancer Conference.
In a parallel study in this part of the world, INMAS, DRDO conducted a spectacular study on 2-DG that led to clinical success. Today Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan released 2-deoxy-D-glucose or ‘2-DG’ for COVID-19 treatment. The Indian national drug regulator, Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), had cleared the formulation on May 1 for emergency use as an adjunct therapy in moderate to severe Covid-19 patients.
Dr. Rao Papineni is elated to see the utility of the 2-DG and hoping the successful treatment of the patients. He feels that the other analogs will soon form the Next-Gen drugs. He is in communication with US and Indian clinical counterparts for a well-structured clinical trial.
Dr. Rao V. L. Papineni is a Molecular Translational Medicine & Diagnostics scientist and an adjunct faculty member at the University of Kansas. He received his doctoral degree in Biochemistry from the University of Hong Kong (British Terr). Dr. Papineni had his early education at the University of Madras, where he earned his Bachelors and Masters Degree. After ten years in Research and Faculty positions at the University of Hong Kong and Baylor College of Medicine (USA), he joined Kodak, USA. As a distinguished scientist, he initiated advanced research programs to study Inflammation and oncology utilizing molecular imaging and nanotechnology-based molecular tools. Dr. Papineni has made several inventions and chaired scientific sessions in International Biomedical Meetings and serves on the editorial board of Nanotech and Experimental Pharmacology journals. He is invited to NIH Grant Study Sections.
“Molecular Imaging – Wisdom to See For Maladies to Flee”
Dr. Rao V. L. Papineni
