Nutmeg compound effective in suppressing coronavirus infection: Hokkaido Univ.
The finding raises prospects for developing antiviral medications derived from natural sources that are safer than current drugs, which carry the risk of side effects such as liver dysfunction, the research team said.
According to professor Kenji Monde of the Faculty of Advanced Life Science at Hokkaido University Graduate School of Life Science, researchers noted the antiviral properties of malabaricone C, a component found in nutmeg, during research aimed at developing lipid synthesis inhibitors useful in preventing Alzheimer's disease and obesity.
In experiments, malabaricone C was added to cells derived from fetal kidney tissue before exposing them to the coronavirus. The cells treated with malabaricone C apparently showed resistance to infection, with their survival confirmed afterward.
However, researchers cautioned that malabaricone C accounts for a very small proportion of nutmeg's overall composition, at just 0.006%, making it virtually impossible to prevent infections through normal dietary intake. Moreover, excessive consumption of nutmeg can lead to neurotoxicity.
Professor Monde stated, "It's important to accumulate information now, to be prepared for developing new medications should COVID-19 infections spread in the future."
The research was published online in the British scientific journal Scientific Reports.
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