Quercetin
This blog addresses COVID-19 therapeutics. It may be a little technical for you, but such is the complexity and wonder of our Creator’s human microbiologic systems. I will try to keep it simple. Although I am a scientist, I am not qualified as a physician or microbiologist; the information in this blog is strictly from what I have researched.
Let us go back to March of 2020 when COVID-19 was rapidly becoming a global pandemic. Fear was rising; thousands were dying, especially the elderly; we were told a vaccine could become available in a few years or might never be developed. The world turned its hopeful eyes toward therapeutics that might prevent us from becoming infected with the virus, or at least reduce the most life-threatening effects of a COVID infection.
Then a possible therapeutic emerged in the news – hydroxychloroquine (HCQ). We learned that HCQ was a safe inexpensive drug, successful in combating malaria as a prophylactic (preventative); reports were coming in from studies around the world that this might be a therapeutic in the arsenal to fight COVID-19. Even President Trump became an advocate when he shared that he had personally taken this substance for two weeks after having been exposed to an infected person. But hope soon faded when a “Lancet paper” reported negative outcomes, effectively putting a damper on further HCQ clinical trials.
Figure 1 Caper Plant with Buds (credit The Seed Collection)
We now know that a 95 percent-effective COVID vaccine has been developed by both Pfizer and Moderna. It is now January 2021. I may get my vaccination by March or April and be immune to COVID (for who knows how long) by May. But there are still many questions surrounding the vaccines, such as their effectiveness against new strains of COVID being identified around the globe. So, what can one do in the meantime? Are there therapeutics that can provide some measure of protection? That is what this blog addresses.
My research has led me to a safe, inexpensive therapeutic cocktail that some investigators claim both strengthens the immune system and specifically combats the COVID-19 virus and its various mutations. Elements of this cocktail were presented by Medical Doctor Pierre Kory to a US Senate committee, as senate testimony, chaired by Senator Ron Johnson in December 2020 on behalf of numerous research studies. Additional research results and recommendations are presented by Dr. Chris Martenson on behalf of Eastern Virginia Medical School, and by the Cleveland Clinic, and by the Mayo Clinic. To help prevent catching the COVID virus as a PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) or to mitigate life-threatening symptoms should I get the disease, I take the following cocktail daily:
- Vitamin C 500 mg twice daily
- Melatonin (slow release) at night before bed (0.3 to 2 mg as tolerated)
- Elemental zinc 30 to 50 mg
- B complex vitamins
- Vitamin D3 1000 to 3000 IU
- 81 mg baby aspirin
- Quercetin 250 to 500 mg (or Ivermectin [Appendix A])
Figure 2 Abundant Sources of Quercetin
It should be noted that this cocktail will also help fight any cold or flu virus, because it builds up the body’s immune system. Each component is important and plays a specific synergistic role (increases effectiveness) to the other ingredients. For example, Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner Research Institute has recently published results of studies showing the role of melatonin in preventing positive COVID infections. Baby aspirin thins the blood which helps prevent blood clots that are common with COVID patients. Studies have shown that patients with low levels of Vitamin D3 – we lose D3 as we age – have a much higher risk of severe disease and death. Vitamin C works in tandem with zinc to support the immune system. This blog will focus on two key substances, zinc with quercetin.
Think of it this way; zinc is the heavy hitter that fights viruses and quercetin is the facilitator-transporter that delivers zinc to the battles. Zinc is an important inorganic element. Up to 10% of all proteins in a human body is composed of zinc, but many people are still zinc-deficient; that is why we need to supplement our diet with zinc. When COVID attacks our cells, high concentrations of zinc inside the cell inhibits the replication of RNA-type viruses, such as SARS-CoV-2 virus that leads to the COVID-19 infection. Zinc in its ionic form Zn2+, accomplishes this by blocking RNA polymerase (RdRp), the core protein-enzyme of their multiprotein replication and transcription complex that is critical to make more copies of viral RNA. Zinc has many other roles such as boosting the body’s immune system and improving the action of immune cells (T-cells, B-cells, Neutrophils, etc.).
Figure 3 Zinc Ionophore (credit Semantic Scholar)
But there is a problem! Zinc is a non-fat-soluble inorganic element, so it is unable to pass through our fat-soluble, lipid-based cell membranes. If it cannot enter the cell, it cannot fight the virus. It needs both a means of transportation as well as an opening in the cell wall. But our Creator has a great solution. Fat-soluble zinc ionophores to the rescue! An ionophore is a tiny organic molecule with a formula like C15-H10-O7. Figure 3 shows an ionophore (red and grey dots) encapsulating zinc (blue dots) via an electrical attraction. Quercetin (QCT) is a plant-based ionophore that occurs in nature; other well-known ionophores used around the world for decades are HCQ and Ivermectin. Our cell membranes (walls) have built-in channels to let substances both enter and exit, but it requires the right code to open the channels. One such channel is the potassium channel KCNQ. Quercetin-containing zinc binds to a region of the KCNQ channel required for responding to electrical activity – akin to opening your garage door with a clicker – and in so doing, “tricks” the KCNQ channel into opening when it normally would be closed. Figure 3 gives us the big picture. Figure 4 is an enlargement of what takes place along the cell membrane.
Figure 4 Ionophore Transfer (credit Wikipedia)
(a) is a “carrier ionophore” that reversibly binds zinc ions and carries them through the cell membrane; (b) is a channel-forming ionophore that allows zinc to pass through the membrane into the cell.
Quercetin (QCT) is a natural plant flavonoid found in many fruits and vegetables (see Figure 2). Chemically, it is a polyphenol with the formula Carbon 15 – Hydrogen 10 – Oxygen 7. In nature, QCT is harvested from the buds of capers (see Figure 1), a plant common to Mediterranean countries, and distilled into a yellow crystalline powder. In addition to its ability to work with zinc to fight COVID, QCT has virus-fighting capabilities of its own. For you microbiologists, QCT is an anti-viral that increases viral clearance by enhancing the mitochondrial anti-virus responses inside a cell. It also interacts with glycoprotein, a blood protein, which disrupts the COVID viral spikes from docking onto and penetrating the cells.
So, I would encourage you to consider vitamins and therapeutics as at least a back-up to a vaccine. For those interested, I include additional information in the Appendix.
Appendix A
Ivermectin is an inexpensive therapeutic drug derived from sainfoin, a plant used by farmers to feed livestock like clover and alfalfa. Ivermectin has been used for decades to combat parasites and Nematodes in animals, and is FDA approved for humans to fight worms, headlice, and rosacea. The Japanese have labeled it a “wonder drug” in the likes of aspirin and penicillin; they call it “astonishingly safe” for human consumption. It is on the World Health Organizations (WHO) list of essential medicines. In laboratory cell cultures, a single treatment effects a 5000-fold reduction in COVID virus in 48 hours. It shows promise as a “repurposed drug” in the war against COVID. Doctors and clinical researchers from around the world are reporting amazing stories of prevention and rapid recovery of patients. Ivermectin, as a zinc ionophore, is considered an upgrade from QCT; unfortunately, like hydroxychloroquine, it can only be obtained by a doctor’s prescription.
Appendix B Cytokine Storm
Figure 5 Cytokine Storm (credit Sciencedirect.com)
Cytokines are scores of different small proteins, messengers in the body’s immune army, transported by the bloodstream and transiting between cells. They occur in families with names like Interleukins and Interferons. This army of cytokines is normally our infection-fighting friend, but sometimes this hoard of molecular weapons becomes a reaction gone wild and attacks the very lungs they should be protecting. When this happens, it is called a cytokine storm; it is like an autoimmune disorder. Sustained cytokine release is a major hallmark in COVID-19 patients; it is an inflammatory response to COVID associated with pneumonia, lung scarring, and unfortunately, death. In the hospital, doctors test patients for high levels of IL-6, a b-chain interleukin. The usual treatment for this condition is the corticosteroid dexamethasone and/or Remdesivir. Ivermectin is gaining momentum as an alternative to help prevent a cytokine storm.
