The 2 DG drug, like glucose, spreads through the body, reaches the virus-infected cells and prevents virus growth by stopping viral synthesis and destroys the protein’s energy production. The drug also works on virus infection spread into lungs which help us to decrease patients dependability on oxygen.
2-Deoxy-d-glucose is a glucose molecule which has the 2-hydroxyl group replaced by hydrogen, so that it cannot undergo further glycolysis. As such; it acts to competitively inhibit the production of glucose-6-phosphate from glucose at the phosphoglucoisomerase level .
The authors suggest that 2-DG works, in part, by increasing the expression of Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), Nerve growth factor (NGF), Arc (protein) (ARC), and Basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF2).