Repurposing of well-known medications as antivirals: hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine; from HIV-1 infection to COVID-19.

Repurposing of well-known medications as antivirals: hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine; from HIV-1 infection to COVID-19. Expert Rev Anti Infect Ther. 2020 Jul 07;: Authors: Naghipour S, Ghodousi M, Rahsepar S, Elyasi S Abstract INTRODUCTION: Chloroquine (CQ) and hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), originally were prescribed for prevention or treatment of malaria, but now successfully are used in several rheumatologic diseases. In addition, in recent decades considering their immunomodulatory effects, high tolerably and low cost, they are evaluated for various viral infections from HIV to COVID-19. AREAS COVERED: In this review we tried to summarize all available studies on HCQ and CQ efficacy for management of viral infections and the probable mechanisms of action. The data were collected by searching "Hydroxychloroquine", "Choloroquine", "Viral infection", and names of various viral infections in PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases from commencement to June 2020. Out of 95 search results, 74 most relevant works were gathered. EXPERT OPINION: HCQ/CQ showed acceptable efficacy in HIV especially as an adjuvant treatment beside routine HAART. However, for some viral infections such as ZIKA, EBOLA, SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, human studies are lacking. In the COVID-19 pandemic, in vitro and preliminary human studies showed encouraging findings. However, later well-designed trials and retrospective studies with large s...
Source: Expert Review of Anti-Infective Therapy - Category: Infectious Diseases Tags: Expert Rev Anti Infect Ther Source Type: research