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Comment by grawprog | Hacker News Reader

I get some of the conspiracy theories that pop up and why people might believe them, but this ivermectin crap has never made sense to me. In what way is an anti-parasitic drug supposed to help a viral lung infection?

I've asked a few people that believe in this ivermectin nonsense to explain exactly how this drug helps against covid. I've yet to receive any explanation as to the mechanism by which ivermectin treats covid that didn't devolve into some unbelievably stupid shit about pleomorphic bacteria and viruses not actually existing.

Why this has taken off just leaves me scratching me head. It just makes no sense.

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https://nature.com/articles/ja201711

listed a couple points of interest:

> A 2011 study investigated the impact of ivermectin on allergic asthma symptoms in mice and found that ivermectin (at 2 mg kg−1) significantly curtailed recruitment of immune cells, production of cytokines in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluids and secretion of ovalbumin-specific IgE and IgG1 in the serum. Ivermectin also suppressed mucus hypersecretion by goblet cells, establishing that ivermectin can effectively curb inflammation, such that it may be useful in treating allergic asthma and other inflammatory airway diseases

> Ivermectin has also been demonstrated to be a potent broad-spectrum specific inhibitor of importin α/β-mediated nuclear transport and demonstrates antiviral activity against several RNA viruses by blocking the nuclear trafficking of viral proteins. It has been shown to have potent antiviral action against HIV-1 and dengue viruses, both of which are dependent on the importin protein superfamily for several key cellular processes.

Thank you, so essentially, it works as an anti-inflammatory, reduces overactive immune system activity and inhbits viral genetic transmission?

This makes a lot more sense than any other explanation i've gotten over this. Thank you.

≥In what way is an anti-parasitic drug supposed to help a viral lung infection?

While I have no interest in making a case for ivermectin and covid, you might be interested in the vast, highly relevant field of repurposed drugs. A fair example might be salicylanilides, eg niclosamide - a drug pretty exclusively used for a particular tapeworm, but being repurposed for incurable gonorrhea, c-dif, h-pylori and other conditions.

*Edited for shitpad typos

I can understand an anti-parasitic drug having an effect on bacterial infections. Bacteria falls under what we classically define as 'life'. Bacterial, fungal and parasitic infections share much more in common than viral infections.

Viruses are a completely different form of life that causes illness in a totally different way to other forma of infectious organisms.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8248252/

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