The Off-Target Effects of Oseltamivir on Influenza

Abstract

Medicinal drugs and treatments are developed to cure patients of a specific virus or disease. Unfortunately, they can also have unintentional off-target effects on other biological processes, which can significantly disrupt the human body. I conducted an experiment analyzing the off-target effects of Oseltamivir, also known as Tamiflu, which is a drug meant to prevent and treat the influenza virus. At a molecular level, Tamiflu works by inhibiting the viral neuraminidase (NA) enzyme. The Tamiflu carboxylate stops the viral NA enzyme from cleaving sialic acid particles on infected cells. My experiment found that, in addition to the viral NA enzyme, human Sialidase-1 and Sialidase-2 may be unintentionally inhibited by Oseltamivir. This study evaluates similarities between the viral NA enzyme and humane sialidases and discusses the potential for side effects from Oseltamivir use due to inhibition of Sialidase 1 and 2.