A new peer-reviewed study from the Tokyo Institute of Technology has, potentially, found a natural cure for COVID-19. The study was published in the journal Plos One earlier this month.
The study found that the natural amino acid called ‘5-Aminolevulinic acid (ALA)’ is an effective way to reduce the expression of ACE2, which is the receptor for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, a strain of the COVID-19 virus, which allows the virus to infect a cell. Therefore, this amino acid can reduce the infectivity of COVID.
ALA can be found in spinach, tomatoes, Shitake mushrooms, potatoes, squid, ground beef, wine and soy sauce, according to clinicaltrials.gov.
COVID-19
There have been 6,850,594 global deaths from COVID-19, according to the World Health Organization (WHO.)
The WHO has also said that there have been a total number of 757,264,511 officially recognized Covid infections.
Similarly, the WHO reported that 13,223,135,400 vaccines have been administered to people to prevent the transmission of COVID. However, there is no cure for the infection.
The study
Researchers prepared human cell cultures and infected some of them with ACE2. In the cells treated with the amino acid, ACE2 was found to have not spread as much.
Adding to the study, researchers observed as ALA cells transformed into a protoporphyrin IX (PpIX), and then a heme. This led researchers to believe that ACE2 was biologically connected to both compounds.
The study has formed a new path for COVID studies, in that now there may be future studies exploring how ALA and heme production can create a cure for COVID.