Gold-Infused Drug Inhibits Spread of Coronavirus, Say Georgia State Researchers

Auranofin, a gold-infused drug originally developed in 1985 and approved by the FDA to treat rheumatoid arthritis, is effective at inhibiting the spread of the novel coronavirus, according to researchers at Georgia State University.

In the preliminary study, human cells infected with the virus were treated with Auranofin, and within 48 hours of treatment, the amount of virus within the cells dropped by 95 percent. Treatment also resulted in significant reduction of coronavirus-induced inflammation.

Like all viruses, SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes the disease COVID-19) cannot reproduce on its own. Instead it uses host cell proteins to manufacture copies of itself.

“Effective drugs need to interfere with this replication process, shutting down the virus’s ability to proliferate inside the host,” said Hussin Rothan, a post-doctoral researcher at Georgia State and co-author of the study.

Because the drug has already been approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, it could potentially be fast-tracked to patients in need.

“Drug repurposing is the fastest way to get a treatment for SARS-CoV-2 because it’s already been established that these medicines are safe to use in humans,” said Mukesh Kumar, lead author of the study and assistant professor of biology.

Auranofin is a chemical compound containing particles of gold, an element known to have anti-inflammatory properties for nearly a century.

The Georgia State University researchers explained that Auranofin also dramatically reduced the expression of cytokines — signaling proteins that draw immune cells to the site of infection— caused by SARS-CoV-2. Normally, the immune system works by fighting off invading pathogens and repairing damage to the body’s tissues.

But many coronavirus-infected patients who die do so because of something called a “cytokine storm,” in which the body’s immune response spirals out of control, killing healthy tissue and leading to organ failure.

According to Kumar, the research seems to indicate that the drug not only could inhibit the replication of SARS-CoV-2, mitigating the infection, but also reduce the associated lung damage that often leads to severe respiratory distress and even death.

Precious metal has been used in medicine since ancient times, and more recently, scientists have explored gold compounds as effective treatments for HIV, cancer, neurodegenerative disorders and parasitic and bacterial infections.

Kumar and his team plan to test the drug in animal models to learn more about how it affects infection and illness, and whether it is effective in treating the disease.

The researchers at Georgia State University have made their paper publicly available for the global research and healthcare community on the preprint website bioRxiv.

Credits: Hussin Rothan image courtesy of Georgia State University. Graphic by https://www.scientificanimations.com / CC BY-SA.

World’s Top Diamond Producer, Alrosa, Doubles Spending to Battle COVID-19

Alrosa, the world’s leading diamond producer in terms of carats, has more than doubled its spending to counter the spread of COVID-19 in and around its mining and administrative sites in Yakutia and Moscow. Alrosa announced last week that its initial outlay of 147 million rubles ($1.99 million) has been elevated to 308 million rubles ($4.15 million).

The funds will continue to be used to buy sanitizers, ventilators, medical equipment, medicines and personal protective gear for regional healthcare institutions, corporate healthcare facilities, operating sites and subsidiary offices.

Specifically, hospitals near its mining facilities in Mirny, Lensk and Aikhal will be getting 25 million rubles ($340,000) in financial aid to purchase antibiotics, antivirals and other medicines and materials. The Ministry of Health of Yakutia will be getting 28,800 COVID-19 test kits valued at 23 million rubles ($311,000).

Alrosa Medical Center is slated to get six mobile labs that are capable of running express testing for COVID-19, and 17 thermal imaging cameras will be installed at the company’s production and administrative sites. The cameras can identify workers with fevers.

In Moscow, Alrosa made its former administrative building available to be utilized by the authorities in their counter-pandemic efforts.

Alrosa's CEO Sergey Ivanov has led by example. On April 6, Ivanov sold half his shares in the company for 18.5 million rubles ($250,000), which he then donated to the coronavirus initiatives in Yakutia, the home of Alrosa’s main operations and headquarters.

Alrosa is the world leader in diamond mining, accounting for more than 25% in the global diamond production in terms of carats. Alrosa operates more than 20 diamond deposits located in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and the Arkhangelsk Region of Russia.

Credit: Image courtesy of Alrosa.

Music Friday: Rob Thomas Tells a Story of Empathy and Love in 2009's ‘Her Diamonds’

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you fabulous songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. In his 2009 hit, “Her Diamonds,” Rob Thomas reflects on his wife’s battle with a debilitating autoimmune disease. In this deeply personal song about empathy and love, Thomas uses the phrase “her diamonds” as a metaphor for his wife’s tears.

He sings, “And she says oh / I can’t take no more / Her tears like diamonds on the floor / And her diamonds bring me down / Cause I can’t help her now.”

The former Matchbox 20 frontman revealed in a 2015 interview with The Canadian Press, that “Her Diamonds” was about his wife, Marisol, a former model who suffers from a disease similar to lupus.

“My wife has an autoimmune disease and [we’ve had to] deal with that for the last six or seven years,” he said. “But at the end of the day, it’s really a song about being empathetic, when the person closest to you is going through something and you can’t do anything to make it better, except to be there for them.”

At the end of the song Thomas expresses his hope that his wife will overcome the disease, singing, “If she can find daylight / She’ll be alright / She’ll be alright / Just not tonight.”

According to Thomas, Marisol provided backup vocals for the track and produced the arrangement.

“Her Diamonds” was the lead single from Thomas’ second solo album, Cradlesong. It zoomed to #1 on the U.S. Billboard Adult Pop Songs chart, topped out at #23 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, and peaked at #27 on the Canadian Hot 100 chart.

Thomas found stardom in 1997 when Matchbox 20’s debut album, Yourself or Someone Like You, went multi-platinum and readers of Rolling Stone magazine named Matchbox 20 the best new band.

As a solo artist, Thomas hit the pinnacle of success when “Smooth,” his collaboration with Carlos Santana, topped the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 for 12 weeks and earned three Grammy Awards: Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals.

We hope you enjoy the video of Thomas’ live performance of “Her Diamonds.” The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along...

“Her Diamonds”
Written and performed by Rob Thomas.

Oh what the hell she said
I just can’t win for losing
And she lays back down
Man there’s so many times
I don’t know what I’m doing
Like I don’t know now

By the light of the moon
She rubs her eyes
Says it’s funny how the night
Can make you blind
I can just imagine
And I don’t know what I’m supposed to do
But if she feels bad then i do too
So I let her be

And she says oh
I can’t take no more
Her tears like diamonds on the floor
And her diamonds bring me down
Cause I can’t help her now
She’s down in it
She tried her best but now she can’t win it
Hard to see them on the ground
Her diamonds falling down

She sits down and stares into the distance
And it takes all night
And i know i could break her concentration
But it don’t feel right
By the light of the moon
She rubs her eyes
Sits down on the bed and starts to cry
And there’s something less about her
And I don’t know what I’m supposed to do
So I sit down and I cry too
And don’t let her see

And she says oh
I can’t take no more
Her tears like diamonds on the floor
And her diamonds bring me down
Cause I can’t help her now
She’s down in it
She tried her best but now she can’t win it
Hard to see them on the ground
Her diamonds falling down

She shuts out the night
Tries to close her eyes
If she can find daylight
She’ll be alright
She’ll be alright
Just not tonight

And she says oh

I can’t take no more
Her tears like diamonds on the floor
And her diamonds bring me down
Cause I can’t help her now
She’s down in it
She tried her best but now she can’t win it
Hard to see them on the ground
Her diamonds falling down

Credit: Photo by R. Cohen.

Sanitation Crew Helps GA Woman Rescue 3-Stone Diamond Ring From County Landfill

Gainesville resident Joan Sheffield says that as soon as Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp lifts the state's shelter-in-place order, she will be hosting a luncheon for a sanitation crew that helped find her three-stone diamond wedding ring at the Hall County Landfill.

Sheffield had worn the ring on her left hand for the past 34 years, but accidentally threw it away. The precious keepsake ended up in a giant pile of trash at a landfill facility that processes 339 tons of solid waste every day.

Sheffield told AJC.com that she had been preparing a meatloaf when she took off the ring, wrapped it in a paper towel and placed it in her pocket. The 67-year-old remembered being “in a fog” that weekend because her mom had just passed away and Sheffield was tasked with cleaning out her mom’s apartment and packing up her belongings.

At the end of the day, she noticed that her pockets were filled with old receipts and paper scraps that had to be discarded. And, yes, among those worthless items was her precious ring neatly wrapped in a paper towel.

The ring was irreplaceable because it included her engagement diamond framed by two smaller diamonds that had been gifted to her by her father.

Sheffield didn’t realize her ring was gone until the next morning. By that time, the trash collectors had already come and gone.

“I heard the trash men come and didn’t think anything of it,” she told AJC.com. “As soon as I got out of the shower, I looked down at my hand and realized I didn’t have it.”

It was 8:30 a.m on a Monday when Dan Owen, the city’s superintendent of solid waste and recycling, answered an urgent call from Sheffield. The superintendent was able to intercept the truck that had serviced Sheffield’s neighborhood and ordered its crew to dump the load on a large concrete slab at the landfill facility.

Sheffield and her husband, Tommy, were already at the landfill when the truck arrived.

Owen told AJC.com that he’s received many calls from panicked residents over the years. In most cases, they call too late and the valuable item has already been buried at the bottom of the landfill. Fortunately, Sheffield called just in time.

For about 30 minutes, the couple — assisted by the sanitation crew — rummaged through countless trash bags. Then something caught Sheffield's eye — a distinctive green twist tie that her husband used to close up the trash bag the night before.

“Sure enough, there were four or five smaller bags in there and the third one was the charm,” she told Atlanta’s NBC affiliate 11Alive. “I found it.”

Sheffield described the sanitation crew as “so nice” and “so thoughtful.” She’s looking forward to taking them to lunch as soon as the state’s shelter in place order is rescinded.

“It’s a crazy time with all that’s happening right now in the world,” Johnnie Vickers, Hall County’s solid waste director told AJC.com. “And I’m just glad we were able to help make at least one person’s day a little better. It’s not a glamorous job, but these are the kind of moments that make it all worth it.”

Credits: Ring photo and couple photo by Joan Sheffield. Landfill image by Hall County Government.

Friends and Family Witness Quarantined Couple's Marriage Proposal Via Google Hangouts

With an engagement ring "burning a hole" in his pocket, PJ Bruno delivered a marriage proposal to his longtime girlfriend, Jaz Zepatos, while the New York couple was quarantined at his parents' house in Delaware. What made the proposal extra special was that Bruno secretly invited family and friends to participate in realtime via Google Hangouts.

While they were still in New York, Bruno had devised an elaborate ruse where his girlfriend — a social media specialist and actress — would be invited to a fake audition. After a series of failed scenes and frustrating takes, Bruno would swoop in with an engagement ring.

When that strategy had to be scrapped because of the coronavirus pandemic, Bruno switched to Plan B. On Instagram, Bruno explained, "Quarantine engagement. When that ring is burning a hole in your pocket."

A 3:45 video posted to Instagram shows how Bruno initially serenades his girlfriend with his cover of Chicago's 1984 hit, "You're the Inspiration." As Bruno plays the guitar and sings, Zepatos can be heard harmonizing in the background.

Then Zepatos reenters the scene and Bruno hugs her from behind. He tells her that in this time of uncertainty, there's one thing she can count on.

"I just want you to know that, no matter what happens, I'm always gonna be here for you," he says.

Then she turns to face him and he says, "And I'm always gonna be in your future."

At that point, he pulls out a ring box and goes down on one knee and asks her to marry him.

Zepatos says, "Yes," and she jumps into his arms.

What Zepatos didn't realize is that a laptop was aimed at the action and a virtual crowd was watching via Google Hangouts. Bruno had sent out a Google Calandar invitation, providing the time, date and a short description of what they were going to see. Bruno's mom added action footage with her iPad.

Zepatos looked at the laptop and was thrilled to see that her parents and others were watching remotely. The bride-to-be could hardly hold back the tears as each Hangout participant took a moment to congratulate the couple.

Through all the excitement, Bruno forgot to put the ring on Zepatos' finger.

"Put it on, put it on," yells one of the guests.

Bruno obliges and Zepatos proudly aims her newly adorned ring finger at the laptop's camera.

"Look at all these people that I love," she says.

In her Instagram post, Zepatos wrote, "In the midst of global chaos, PJ managed to find a way to gather our closest friends and family to create one of the most magical moments of my life. Thank you to everyone who took part in our special day from the safety of your homes. We love you so much. When this is all over we're going to hug and cheers and laugh together."

The newly engaged couple told Insider.com that they've gotten a lot of positive feedback from people hungry for some good news during the pandemic.

"[The video] is putting a smile on people's faces and letting them take their minds off of everything else in the news right now," Zepatos said.

"I think the big takeaway isn't 'Look at Jaz and PJ,' as much as 'Let's connect with our loved ones now and always remember that it's a priority in our lives,'" added Bruno.

The couple is planning an August 2021 wedding.

Check out the couple's video on Zepatos' Instagram page...

Credits: Image and screen captures via Instagram.com/jazzepatos.