Nikhil Prasad Fact checked by:Thailand Medical News Team Aug 28, 2025 9 hours, 28 minutes ago
Medical News: A surprising new discovery
Researchers from Al Farabi Kazakh National University, Kazakh National Medical University named after S.D. Asfendiyarov, Kazakh Institute of Oncology and Radiology, Kazakh Russian Medical University, Kazakh Academy of Sports and Tourism, University of Connecticut (USA), Almaty Regional Multidisciplinary Clinic, Republican Blood Center, and the Research Institute for Biological Safety Problems have found that a drug originally used to fight HIV may also work effectively against SARS CoV 2, the virus behind COVID 19.
Anti-HIV Drug Shows Strong Potential Against COVID and Long COVID
In laboratory tests, the well-known anti-HIV drugs tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) and tenofovir alafenamide (TAF) managed to stop the coronavirus from multiplying. This
Medical News report highlights that the drugs not only blocked the virus in infected cells but also showed very low levels of toxicity, making them safe candidates for repurposing.
How the drugs work
Tenofovir belongs to a class of medicines called nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs). These drugs are normally used to block HIV from making copies of itself inside the body. Scientists tested whether these drugs could also interfere with the coronavirus, which uses a similar enzyme system to copy its RNA.
The results were remarkable. At certain doses, TDF completely stopped the virus from replicating, even under high viral load conditions. TAF, on the other hand, was particularly good at preventing infection when given at lower viral loads and showed stronger long term antiviral activity when cells were exposed to it for several days.
Potential link to Long COVID
One of the most exciting aspects of this discovery is that TAF appears to work well in lymphoid tissues, such as lymph nodes and spleen. These are areas where the coronavirus has been found to hide and persist for months, even after the initial infection seems over. This persistence in immune system tissues is thought to contribute to the long-lasting symptoms of Long COVID. By targeting these viral reservoirs, TAF could potentially help patients suffering from ongoing fatigue, brain fog, and other chronic issues related to Long COVID.
Study details
The research team tested the drugs against both the original Wuhan strain and the Kazakh B.1 strain of the virus. At a concentration of 50 µg/mL, TDF cut down viral loads by nearly 100 percent with very little damage to the cells. TAF also showed a clear dose dependent effect, with viral inhibition increasing steadily from 68 percent at lower concentrations to complete suppression at higher doses. The effects became even stronger when the drugs were left to act for 96 hours.
The study also found that both drugs worked well in combination, showing a synergistic effect that could make them even more powerful if used together. Electron microscope images confirmed that the virus was unable to maintain its structure after treatment with the drugs.
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What this means going forward
Although these results are still based on laboratory cell studies and not yet in human trials, the implications are significant. Because TDF and TAF are already widely used and have established safety records in HIV and hepatitis B treatment, they could be repurposed relatively quickly for COVID 19. Clinical trials will be the next step to see if these drugs can help treat acute COVID infections and possibly improve outcomes for those suffering from Long COVID.
If further validated, this could represent one of the most practical and accessible therapeutic breakthroughs for managing COVID 19 and its long-term consequences. Since tenofovir is already cheap and widely available in many countries, it could become a valuable tool in both current and future coronavirus outbreaks.
Conclusion
The discovery that existing HIV drugs can block SARS CoV 2 replication and possibly reduce Long COVID persistence offers fresh hope in the fight against the pandemic. While more research is needed, especially clinical studies in humans, the potential for fast repurposing makes this approach highly promising. If successful, it could not only improve treatment for COVID 19 but also address the unresolved challenge of lingering viral reservoirs linked to Long COVID symptoms.
The study findings were published in the peer reviewed journal: Viruses.
https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/17/9/1170
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