Toxicological Potential of the FDA-Approved Treatment against Monkeypox. Comment on Zovi et al. Pharmacological Agents with Antiviral Activity against Monkeypox Infection. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23, 15941
, Umberto Laino Fulco 1,*, Edilson Dantas da Silva, Jr. 1, Claudio Bruno Silva de Oliveira 2 and Jonas Ivan Nobre Oliveira 1,*
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
This comment is well prepared. But i found some minor mistakes and these are:
1) Page No. 1, 4th paragraph, line 1, potential adverse effect
effect is missing.
2) Page No. 2, 3rd paragraph, line 13, TD50
50 should be subscript.
3) Page No. 3, 1st paragraph, line 1 & 2, ug/L
for microgram symbol should be used. its u not microgram.
Author Response
Dear Reviewer,
Thank you for taking the time and effort to review our comment. I am glad to hear that you found the suggested changes to be minor in nature and that the publication of our article is practically accepted.
Best regards,
Oliveira, CBS
Reviewer 2 Report
Unfortunately, the authors of the comment are incompetent in the area under discussion.
In particular, they write about the mechanism of action of TPOXX: “It is a member of the cyclic guanosine monophosphate analog class of antiviral agents, and works by inhibiting the viral DNA polymerase enzyme, which is essential for the replication of poxvirus DNA” – It is not right!Monkeypox (MPX) is an infection and is different from monkeypox virus (MPXV). Authors often confuse these concepts in the text.
Author Response
We thank the reviewer for his keen eye for detail and acknowledge that our description of the mechanism of action of TPOXX was inaccurate, even quite misleading. The revised text reads as follows:
"Tecovirimat, also known as TPOXX, is a small molecule-based antiviral agent that exerts its antiviral activity against orthopoxviruses, including monkeypox virus (MPXV). The drug acts as an inhibitor of the orthopoxvirus envelope protein VP37, which is critical for the production of extracellular virus. By interfering with the cellular transmission of the virus, Tecovirimat effectively prevents the onset of the disease [3, 4]. Although preclinical and clinical studies have demonstrated the efficacy of tecovirimat in reducing disease severity and improving clinical outcomes, the potential adverse and toxicological effects of this agent need to be carefully evaluated."
In addition, we have made the necessary corrections to our text to avoid further ambiguity (MPX vs MPXV) and to ensure the accuracy of the information. Thank you for bringing these issues to our attention.
Sincerely,
Oliveira, CBS
Round 2
Reviewer 2 Report
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