It may be possible to reduce the severity of COVID-19 symptoms with an inexpensive amino acid that could open up new treatment options for patients. GABA is a natural molecule that is available without a prescription in many countries. Researchers have now used a mouse model of SARS-CoV-2 infection to show that GABA treatment can reduce viral load, severity of symptoms, and mortality from COVID-19. This research team has previously shown that GABA can prevent death in a mouse model of coronavirus infection, which used a virus called MHV-1. When mice consumed GABA within a few days of infection, or during the peak of infection, the treatment was effective. The investigators suggested that since GABA worked against two unrelated coronaviruses, it could be useful as a general treatment for novel beta-coronaviruses and variants of SARS-CoV-2. The findings have been reported in Frontiers in Immunology.
New variants of SARS-CoV-2 will keep arising, and the medicines and vaccines we are now using may not always be effective. New vaccines will also come along more slowly than new variants, noted senior study author Daniel L. Kaufman, a researcher and professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
When the researchers determined that GABA could reduce symptom severity when mice were infected with MHV-1, a mouse coronavirus, they tested it in a mouse model of severe, SARS-CoV-2-induced pneumonia. Most mice that were not treated died. But when GABA was given to these mice just after they were infected, or two days later, some symptoms were relieved and there was a reduction in mortality.
The treated mice also experienced biochemical changes in immune molecules called chemokines and cytokines that have been linked to better outcomes for COVID-19 patients.
The study authors are also hopeful that the anti-inflammatory nature of this treatment might help reduce problems, like central nervous system inflammation, that are associated with long-COVID.
More work will be needed to confirm that GABA is effective for COVID-19 patients, but it is stable at room temperature and inexpensive to make, so it could be particularly useful for areas where healthcare can be difficult to access, noted senior study author Daniel L. Kaufman, a researcher and professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
While GABA and GABA receptors are typically considered part of the brain's system of neurotransmitters, immune cells are also known to express GABA receptors. The activation of GABA receptors on immune cells is known to be inhibited by inflammation. GABA treatment can help relieve symptoms in some mouse models of autoimmune diseases like type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis.
The authors noted that clinical trials will be necessary before GABA is shown to be a reliable and safe COVID-19 treatment, and that people should not consume it without the direction and advice of a doctor. GABA consumption could pose some health risks, such as immune interference.
Sources: University of California, Los Angeles, Frontiers in Immunology
