CH25H and 25HC protect against diseases caused by Zika virus infection.

On the 15th, the Suzhou Institute of Systemic Medicine(Suzhou Institute of Systems Medicine) of the Center for Systemic Medicine of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (SSE) published a study jointly with THE UNIVERSITY of California, Los Angeles and other institutions.
researchers found that protein cholesterol-25-hydroxylase (CH25H) and its enzyme-promoting reaction product 25-hydroxycholesterol (25HC) have a clear protective effect against diseases caused by Zika virus infection and are expected to be used to suppress Ebola virus, HIV, and so on.
the results have been published in Immunity, an internationally renowned journal.
zika virus has been a global threat to human health since it broke out in the Americas, including Brazil, in 2015.
cases of imported Zika have also been reported in China.
pregnant women infected with the Zika virus can lead to abnormal fetal development, neonatal gyrocephaly and other neurological lesions.
there is currently no effective treatment for the Zika virus, nor is there a vaccine that has passed clinical trials.
, chinese and American scientists discovered the broad-spectrum antiviral effect of 25-hydroxycholesterol as early as 2013, according to Dr. Li Chunfeng of the Institute of Systems, who was involved in the study.
after the outbreak of the Zika virus, the system responded to the national call to jointly study the possibility of 25-hydroxycholesterol against the Zika virus, in a joint effort with the Institute of Microbiological Epidemiology of the Academy of Military Medical Sciences, the Institute of Genetic Development of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the University of California, Los Angeles.
cholesterol-25-hydroxylase is a interferon-stimulating gene whose gene expression products oxidize cholesterol to produce 25-hydroxycholesterol.
experiment, the researchers found that 25-hydroxycholesterol directly blocks the virus's entry into cells and has broad-spectrum antiviral activity against a variety of insect-borne yellow viruses, including the Zika virus.
using mouse models infected with Zika virus and rhesus monkey animal models, researchers found that 25-hydroxycholesterol therapy significantly inhibited the replication of the virus in the body and was effective in preventing the development of smallhead disease. Professor Cheng Genhong,
, who co-studies the study, said 25-hydroxycholesterol is the first small molecule so far found to inhibit replication of the Zika virus in monkeys and the first compound to prevent small heads caused by Zika virus infection in mice.
prospects are promising.
" is theoretically equally effective in the human body.
next step, we're going to start clinical trials to test the effectiveness of 25-hydroxycholesterol in the human body, " Cheng said.
will next look at the antiviral effects of 25-hydroxycholesterol derivatives and look for substances that are more effective at suppressing Zika virus infection.
eliminate the threat of the Zika virus to humans.
addition, based on the broad-spectrum antiviral effect of 25-hydroxycholesterol, Chinese and American scientists have proved that 25-hydroxycholesterol can inhibit Ebola virus, HIV and so on.
the two sides will continue to cooperate to "apply them to the prevention and treatment of new outbreaks of viral infectious diseases and to provide new programmes for the effective prevention and treatment of viral infectious diseases."
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