What Are Neuraminidase Inhibitors?
Neuraminidase inhibitors are antiviral drugs that are used to treat influenza infections. The influenza virus has two proteins on its surface. One of them is neuraminidase, an enzyme that frees newly-formed particles from the viral surface. This allows them to spread and infect other cells, after they have replicated. Two neuraminidase inhibitors are commercially available to treat influenza by blocking neuraminidase activity. This type of enzyme is produced by a wide range of organisms. Neuraminidase breaks the bond of a sugar known as sialic acid, or neuramidin. On the influenza virus, the neuraminidase protrudes from the surface of the viral particle. Once the virus has reproduced, it remains connected to the host cell by the sialic acid until this sugar is cleaved.
