General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsNature: Hydroxychloroquine is effective in inhibiting SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro
Nature: Correspondence
Open Access
Published: 18 March 2020
Hydroxychloroquine, a less toxic derivative of chloroquine, is effective in inhibiting SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro
Jia Liu, Ruiyuan Cao, Mingyue Xu, Xi Wang, Huanyu Zhang, Hengrui Hu, Yufeng Li, Zhihong Hu, Wu Zhong & Manli Wang
Cell Discovery volume 6, Article number: 16 (2020)
The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2/2019-nCoV) poses a serious threat to global public health and local economies. As of March 3, 2020, over 80,000 cases have been confirmed in China, including 2946 deaths as well as over 10,566 confirmed cases in 72 other countries. Such huge numbers of infected and dead people call for an urgent demand of effective, available, and affordable drugs to control and diminish the epidemic.
We have recently reported that two drugs, remdesivir (GS-5734) and chloroquine (CQ) phosphate, efficiently inhibited SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro1. Remdesivir is a nucleoside analog prodrug developed by Gilead Sciences (USA). A recent case report showed that treatment with remdesivir improved the clinical condition of the first patient infected by SARS-CoV-2 in the United States2, and a phase III clinical trial of remdesivir against SARS-CoV-2 was launched in Wuhan on February 4, 2020. However, as an experimental drug, remdesivir is not expected to be largely available for treating a very large number of patients in a timely manner. Therefore, of the two potential drugs, CQ appears to be the drug of choice for large-scale use due to its availability, proven safety record, and a relatively low cost. In light of the preliminary clinical data, CQ has been added to the list of trial drugs in the Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of COVID-19 (sixth edition) published by National Health Commission of the Peoples Republic of China.
...To this end, we evaluated the antiviral effect of HCQ against SARS-CoV-2 infection in comparison to CQ in vitro. First, the cytotoxicity of HCQ and CQ in African green monkey kidney VeroE6 cells (ATCC-1586) was measured by standard CCK8 assay, and the result showed that the 50% cytotoxic concentration (CC50) values of CQ and HCQ were 273.20 and 249.50??M, respectively, which are not significantly different from each other.
... Clinical investigation found that high concentration of cytokines were detected in the plasma of critically ill patients infected with SARS-CoV-2, suggesting that cytokine storm was associated with disease severity12. Other than its direct antiviral activity, HCQ is a safe and successful anti-inflammatory agent that has been used extensively in autoimmune diseases and can significantly decrease the production of cytokines and, in particular, pro-inflammatory factors. Therefore, in COVID-19 patients, HCQ may also contribute to attenuating the inflammatory response. In conclusion, our results show that HCQ can efficiently inhibit SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro. In combination with its anti-inflammatory function, we predict that the drug has a good potential to combat the disease. This possibility awaits confirmation by clinical trials. We need to point out, although HCQ is less toxic than CQ, prolonged and overdose usage can still cause poisoning. And the relatively low SI of HCQ requires careful designing and conducting of clinical trials to achieve efficient and safe control of the SARS-CoV-2 infection.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41421-020-0156-0
TexasBushwhacker
(20,202 posts)She is also recovering from suspected COVID-19, although she was never able to get tested.
Journeyman
(15,036 posts)The entire supply may be bought up by frantic people desperate for a "cure."
I foresee so much of it going into the black markets there won't be any left even for the researchers seeking to test its efficacy on CV19.
I'm just so tired of piling up reason upon reason to hate that man.
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)when youre hospitalized, with poor prognosis, and the docs who cant think beyond protocols say theres nothing left to do.
Nac Mac Feegle
(971 posts)Don't swallow the Kool-aid without knowing the source, and ingredients.
https://www.xkcd.com/1217/
standingtall
(2,785 posts)but I have taken HCQ in the past and I think it's a bit of stretch to say it's a successful anti-inflammatory. HCQ is almost never used as primary drug treating autoimmune diseases it is used a second and sometimes even a third drug in combination with the other drugs. Btw hydroxychloroquine pills taste God awful! When you take those you better gulp down a glass of water with them really fast.
denem
(11,045 posts)rather than a mere suppression of an autoimmune response.
standingtall
(2,785 posts)Rheumatologist have been using the drug for decades. As someone who has had RA for 20 years I've had prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine in the past and have to talked to Rheumatologist about it. They prescribe it to give drugs like Methotrexate,Remicade and Humira etc a boost, but they never use it as a primary drug and a prescriptions for Hydrochloroquine require yearly trips to the ophthalmologist, because one of the potential sides effects of the drug is retina damage.
denem
(11,045 posts)The authors sugest hydroxychloroquine has a 'direct antiviral activity', independent of efficacy as anti-inflammatory ageny.
I would've never guessed that.