2-DEOXY-D-GLUCOSE (2-DG)

2-DEOXY-D-GLUCOSE (2-DG)

Subject : Science & tech

Context : Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) approved anti-COVID drug developed by DRDO for emergency use of this drug as adjunct therapy in moderate to severe covid cases.

Concept :

• An anti-COVID-19 therapeutic application of the drug 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) has been developed by Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), a lab of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), in collaboration with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (DRL), Hyderabad.
• Clinical trial results have shown that this molecule helps in faster recovery of hospitalised patients and reduces supplemental oxygen dependence.
• Higher proportion of patients treated with 2-DG showed RT-PCR negative conversion in COVID patients. The drug will be of immense benefit to the people suffering from COVID-19.
• The drug comes in powder form in sachet, which is taken orally by dissolving it in water. It accumulates in the virus infected cells and prevents virus growth by stopping viral synthesis and energy production.
• Its selective accumulation in virally infected cells makes this drug unique.

Adjunct Therapy

• Adjuvant therapy, also known as adjunct therapy, and adjuvant care, is therapy that is given in addition to the primary or initial therapy to maximize its effectiveness.
• The surgeries and complex treatment regimens used in cancer therapy have led the term to be used mainly to describe adjuvant cancer treatments.
• An example of such adjuvant therapy is the additional treatment[1] usually given after surgery where all detectable disease has been removed, but where there remains a statistical risk of relapse due to the presence of undetected disease.
• If known disease is left behind following surgery, then further treatment is not technically adjuvant.
• An adjuvant used on its own specifically refers to an agent that improves the effect of a vaccine. Medications used to help primary medications are known as add-ons