The Upper Respiratory Tract Is The Key Battleground.
Back in July 2020, we first explained the crucial significance of vitamin D as an effective viral countermeasure as well as the significance of vitamin D deficiency in SARS-CoV-2’s pathogenesis and COVID-19 disease severity. Then in October we highlighted the importance of the vitamin D→endothelial nitric oxide synthase→nitric oxide pathway, where the cascade of cholecalciferol to calcifediol to calcitriol stimulates the production of nitric oxide (NO). Understanding the importance of the upper respiratory tract in SARS-CoV-2 pathogensis, we even went so far as to recommend breathing through your nose – especially when asleep – as nitric oxide is synthesised particularly in the paranasal sinuses and nasopharynx.
The upper respiratory tract is the first point of contact with the virion and NO immediately attacks it, by disupting ACE2 receptor binding; targeting amino acids around nsp3 & nsp4 [Xu et al, 2020] and stimulating mucal secretion [Nagaki et al, 1995]. Mucus forms an extracellular covering that prevents the virion from binding. Mucus also expresses immunoglobulin A (IgA), which is a protective antibody. Unlike immunoglobulin G (IgG), IgA can create protective and sterilising immunity.
While SG614 and S-VoC / N501Y do not increase disease severity, they can increase viral load, which is seen predominantly in the upper respiratory tract. Therefore, as coronaviruses are seasonal irritant, respiratory viruses, if you want to develop either a prophylactic (vaccine) or therapeutic (antiviral) treatment, concentrate upon the upper respiratory tract. Use the body’s natural defences – NO, mucus, IgA – to your advantage, rather than developing a putative vaccine that stimulates only IgG and cannot provide sterilising immunity, meaning you can still catch and spread SARS-CoV-2 even after vaccination. Plus, as previously set out, IM/ID delivery bypasses the respiratory tract. In addition, their focus on the spike protein ignores the dynamic glycan shielding around the spike protein and – more worryingly – ignores the risk of antibody-dependent enhancement through Fc afucosylation stimulating FcγRIIIa receptors, which causes increased disease severity.
So ChAdOx1 and BNT126b2 are not vaccines but antivirals, and questionnable ones at that.
SaNOtize’s Nitric Oxide Releasing Solution.
Compared to the grotesquely-misplaced hubris when Pfizer’s CEO described Pfizer/BioNTech’s BNT126b2 as “a great day for humanity” (your vaccine antiviral is 90% effective in people who don’t need it – congratulations), a Canadian company, SaNOtize, has been developing a vaccine that does use the upper respiratory tract. Their Nitric Oxide Releasing Solution (NORSTM);
is centred upon the concept of delivery by nasal spray, such as used in this well-known and trusted example;
and along with a gargling liquid, NORSTM aims to kill virions in the upper respiratory tract using NO. It is still in phase II trials (that are due to finish this month) but the data so far is very persuasive. In tests undertaken at the Institute For Antiviral Research at Utah State University, NORSTM was 99.9% effective in destroying SARS-CoV-2 and in less than two minutes, while another showed it was 95% effective.
Earlier this month, clinical trials of this nasal spray began in the UK at a hospital in Surrey.
Vitamin D And Nitric Oxide Really Make A Difference.
Knowledge of the myriad properties of NO in human health, both in maintaining health and fighting infection, was elevated by Robert Furchgott, Louis Ignarro and Ferid Murad, who shared the 1998 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Professor Murad is one of the founders and directors of SaNOtize.
Their pioneering work has meant that much is known about the benefits of vitamin D in general and nitric oxide in particular. It would be unfair not to also recognise the work of Ricciardolo [2003]; Martineau et al [2017] and Bergman et al [2013] state, with the latter stating “results indicate that vitamin D has a protective effect against respiratory tract infections“.
The WHO published a report in 2017 that specifically referenced “there is a high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency worldwide” [Wahl et al, 2012; Palacios et al, 2014]. The report countered this with the key function of vitamin D in “enhancing innate immunity by up-regulating the expression and secretion of antimicrobial peptides, which boosts mucosal defences. Furthermore, recent meta-analyses have reported a protective effect of vitamin D supplementation on respiratory tract infections” [Gombart et al, 2005; Wang et al, 2010; Charan et al, 2012; Bergman et al, 2013; Yakoob et al, 2016; Martineau et al, 2017].
In respect of SARS-CoV-2, Annweiler et al [2020] show that high dose vitamin D may be “an effective, well-tolerated, and easily and immediately accessible treatment for COVID-19.“
Our own research concluded in October:
“A low level of vitamin D, especially deficiency, makes it more difficult for the body to effectively fight the virus. Conversely, just a normal level of vitamin D can make an individual up to 10.4x more resilient in dealing with any infection, i.e. it is dealt with effectively by the innate immune system without the any need for the adaptive immune system.
Excessive NO is not automatically good and can be inflammatory, especially in relation to uncontrolled iNOS synthesis which is a main cause of septic shock. But again conversely, too low a NO level prevents the initial response to the virion in the human airway and endothelial dysfunction – causing low NO production – is a factor in hypertension, hypercholesterolaemia and atherogenesis.
A healthy level of vitamin D means healthy eNOS regulation which means healthy NO synthesis. A healthy level of NO increases the body’s initial response to the detection of virion in the human airway and produces a counter-function to the activation of the virion through its furin cleavage site.
Low levels of NO in the human airway increase the chances of developing COVID-19 symptoms, especially in those with comorbidities, who are themselves already susceptible to low levels of NO synthesis through endothelial dysfunction.
Healthy NO production also attacks the virion’s genome by targeting its ability to replicate.”
Vitamin D deficiency is <12ug. A prudent level is at least 25ug, perhaps 30ug. That’s about 1,000 IU. Don’t exceed 100ug, which is around 4,000 IU. Taking a supplement at a level somewhere between 25ug – 100ug for a couple of weeks and then reverting to the lower level as a constant will support your immune system, especially given that we are going into fewer hours of daylight and therefore lower capacity to create vitamin D through natural synthesis.“
Why Does The UK Government Deny A Population Access To Sunlight?
The UK government’s denial of access to sunlight through lockdown is one of the two main reasons why the UK has consistently maintained one of the highest total deaths and highest average mortality rates on the planet.
As we warned in September, a subsequent lockdown in the autumn or winter months, with fewer hours of daylight, would be worse than the first one in the spring and sadly we have been proven correct.
There is also an irony almost beyond words that something that is naturally present in all of us, and is universally and freely-available – vitamin D – is the basis for a highly effective vaccine candidate, in the form of nitric oxide. NO is so effective that SaNOtize is seeking approval for NORSTM as a prophylactic vaccine rather than therapeutic antiviral.
Nitric oxide is established as a highly effective viral countermeasure that targets the upper respitatory tract and works alongside the immune system’s defences, in the form of IgA and mucus. A nitric oxide-based vaccine delivered by nasal spray can provide protective or sterilising immunity. It can also do so without the risk of ADE or ADCC. Many individuals already take nitric oxide-synthesising vitamin D daily oral sprays.
Our view remains that for 99.6% of the population a vaccine is not required. However, if you are going to come up with an effective viral countermeasure, whether prophylactic or therapeutic, then NORSTM has the potential to be truly effective because it is natural and already present in each & every single one of us.
Do not panic. Do not worry. Do not follow government advice.