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New drug could contribute to stopping measles outbreaks
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1137366
INTRO: A new oral antiviral drug candidate administered either before or after direct contact or airborne exposure to canine distemper virus, which causes measles-like disease in ferrets, blocks transmission of the virus and reduces clinical symptoms, according to a study published in the journal Nature Microbiology by researchers in the Center for Translational Antiviral Research (CTAR) at Georgia State University.
The study explored whether prophylactic (shortly before or after exposure) administration of the recently developed clinical candidate GHP-88310 (described in Science Advances2), a broad-spectrum inhibitor of the viral polymerase, prevents virus transmission through close contact or through the air. The results demonstrate that GHP-88310 efficiently blocks both forms of viral spread. In addition, the study showed that treatment of infected animals shortened the time period in which infected animals could transmit the virus.
“Silencing measles outbreaks quickly is essential to reestablish control over the virus,” said senior author Richard Plemper, a Regents’ Professor and director of the CTAR. “This study follows our recent development of the drug candidate GHP-88310. It demonstrates that the drug is suitable to augment traditional ring vaccination against measles.”
Since 2025, measles has reemerged in the United States with thousands of cases across multiple states, hundreds of hospitalizations and three confirmed deaths. Large outbreaks in Canada and Mexico with multiple deaths have challenged the measles elimination status of North America.
“We were very excited to see that GHP-88310 given by mouth completely prevented airborne transmission in our ferret model of measles,” said first author Carolin Lieber, a senior postdoctoral fellow in the Plemper lab. “This finding is unprecedented for a viral polymerase inhibitor and demonstrates the extraordinary antiviral potency of this drug.” (MORE - no ads)
Scientists solve mystery behind contradictory behaviours of new weight-loss drugs
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1137252
EXCERPTS: Cambridge scientists have solved the mystery of why both stimulating and blocking a particular ‘switch’ in the brain can help people lose weight – findings which could help boost the effectiveness of obesity drugs.
Published today in Nature Metabolism, the study in mice shows that the answer lies in where the switch is located: stimulating the switch in the brainstem suppresses appetite, while the same effect can be achieved by blocking the switch in the hypothalamus.
More than a billion people worldwide are living with obesity, which increases the risk of diseases such as 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer. Weight loss can help mitigate these complications, but losing weight through diet and exercise alone can prove challenging.
In the past few years, a new generation of weight loss drugs has emerged that target particular receptors in the brain, reducing appetite and leading to weight loss, as well as helping control blood sugar levels. Several of these, such as Wegovy and Ozempic, work by stimulating a protein ‘switch’ known as the glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor (GLP-1R).
Other weight loss drugs act on both this receptor and a second one, the glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide receptor (GIPR). However, some of these drugs, such as Mounjaro and Zepbound, stimulate GIPR, while others, such as MariTide, block it. Why these opposite actions have the same result has puzzled scientists.
Now, researchers at the Institute of Metabolic Science, University of Cambridge, have used mice to solve the puzzle, showing that the two different types of GIPR drugs act on distinct regions of the brain – but also that they can boost weight loss when combined with certain GLP-1-based weight-loss drugs.
[...] The findings explain why drugs such as MariTide, currently in phase 3 clinical trials, which combines GIPR antagonism with GLP-1 receptor agonism, are effective, and suggests how to design even better combination therapies.
Dr Jo Lewis, the study’s first author from the Institute of Metabolic Science at the University of Cambridge, said: “Understanding which brain circuits respond to these medications – and how they do so – could help us design better drugs that produce more weight loss with fewer side effects, and which might work in combination with other obesity medicines to even greater effect.
“Our work also strengthens the idea that the brain is central to obesity treatment. Obesity drugs are not acting simply on the gut or pancreas. Instead, they have important effects on specific, identifiable brain circuits that regulate appetite and food intake.” (MORE - missing details, no ads)
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1137366
INTRO: A new oral antiviral drug candidate administered either before or after direct contact or airborne exposure to canine distemper virus, which causes measles-like disease in ferrets, blocks transmission of the virus and reduces clinical symptoms, according to a study published in the journal Nature Microbiology by researchers in the Center for Translational Antiviral Research (CTAR) at Georgia State University.
The study explored whether prophylactic (shortly before or after exposure) administration of the recently developed clinical candidate GHP-88310 (described in Science Advances2), a broad-spectrum inhibitor of the viral polymerase, prevents virus transmission through close contact or through the air. The results demonstrate that GHP-88310 efficiently blocks both forms of viral spread. In addition, the study showed that treatment of infected animals shortened the time period in which infected animals could transmit the virus.
“Silencing measles outbreaks quickly is essential to reestablish control over the virus,” said senior author Richard Plemper, a Regents’ Professor and director of the CTAR. “This study follows our recent development of the drug candidate GHP-88310. It demonstrates that the drug is suitable to augment traditional ring vaccination against measles.”
Since 2025, measles has reemerged in the United States with thousands of cases across multiple states, hundreds of hospitalizations and three confirmed deaths. Large outbreaks in Canada and Mexico with multiple deaths have challenged the measles elimination status of North America.
“We were very excited to see that GHP-88310 given by mouth completely prevented airborne transmission in our ferret model of measles,” said first author Carolin Lieber, a senior postdoctoral fellow in the Plemper lab. “This finding is unprecedented for a viral polymerase inhibitor and demonstrates the extraordinary antiviral potency of this drug.” (MORE - no ads)
Scientists solve mystery behind contradictory behaviours of new weight-loss drugs
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1137252
EXCERPTS: Cambridge scientists have solved the mystery of why both stimulating and blocking a particular ‘switch’ in the brain can help people lose weight – findings which could help boost the effectiveness of obesity drugs.
Published today in Nature Metabolism, the study in mice shows that the answer lies in where the switch is located: stimulating the switch in the brainstem suppresses appetite, while the same effect can be achieved by blocking the switch in the hypothalamus.
More than a billion people worldwide are living with obesity, which increases the risk of diseases such as 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer. Weight loss can help mitigate these complications, but losing weight through diet and exercise alone can prove challenging.
In the past few years, a new generation of weight loss drugs has emerged that target particular receptors in the brain, reducing appetite and leading to weight loss, as well as helping control blood sugar levels. Several of these, such as Wegovy and Ozempic, work by stimulating a protein ‘switch’ known as the glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor (GLP-1R).
Other weight loss drugs act on both this receptor and a second one, the glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide receptor (GIPR). However, some of these drugs, such as Mounjaro and Zepbound, stimulate GIPR, while others, such as MariTide, block it. Why these opposite actions have the same result has puzzled scientists.
Now, researchers at the Institute of Metabolic Science, University of Cambridge, have used mice to solve the puzzle, showing that the two different types of GIPR drugs act on distinct regions of the brain – but also that they can boost weight loss when combined with certain GLP-1-based weight-loss drugs.
[...] The findings explain why drugs such as MariTide, currently in phase 3 clinical trials, which combines GIPR antagonism with GLP-1 receptor agonism, are effective, and suggests how to design even better combination therapies.
Dr Jo Lewis, the study’s first author from the Institute of Metabolic Science at the University of Cambridge, said: “Understanding which brain circuits respond to these medications – and how they do so – could help us design better drugs that produce more weight loss with fewer side effects, and which might work in combination with other obesity medicines to even greater effect.
“Our work also strengthens the idea that the brain is central to obesity treatment. Obesity drugs are not acting simply on the gut or pancreas. Instead, they have important effects on specific, identifiable brain circuits that regulate appetite and food intake.” (MORE - missing details, no ads)