(p. A15) Today Dr. Frohman and his team of researchers believe one treatment for MS could do the same for seriously ill Covid-19 patients.
The drug is called methotrexate, and it’s already proven to calm the chaotic responses of panicked immune systems. “A blast of this drug, over a matter of hours . . . pulls the cord on the panic button and resets the immune system,” Dr. Frohman tells me.
The new research is set to be published as early as this week in the Journal of the Neurological Sciences. Methotrexate already has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, meaning doctors treating Covid-19 patients could begin using it immediately. National Institutes of Health immunologist Avindra Nath said this week that combining methotrexate with remdesivir, an antiviral drug, may set a new standard for fighting the most serious Covid cases.
For the full commentary, see:
(Note: ellipsis in original.)
(Note: the online version of the commentary has the date May 13, 2020 and has the same title as the print version.)
The Frohman research, mentioned above, is reported in:
Frohman, Elliot M., Esther Melamed, Roberto Alejandro Cruz, Reid Longmuir, Lawrence Steinman, Scott S. Zamvil, Nicole R. Villemarette-Pittman, Teresa C. Frohman, and Matthew S. Parsons. “Part I. Sars-Cov-2 Triggered ‘Panic’ Attack in Severe Covid-19.” Journal of the Neurological Sciences (in-press 2020).
Frohman, Elliot M., Roberto Alejandro Cruz, Reid Longmuir, Lawrence Steinman, Scott S. Zamvil, Nicole R. Villemarette-Pittman, Teresa C. Frohman, and Matthew S. Parsons. “Part II. High-Dose Methotrexate with Leucovorin Rescue for Severe Covid-19: An Immune Stabilization Strategy for Sars-Cov-2 Induced ‘Panic’ Attack.” Journal of the Neurological Sciences (in-press 2020).