An Update on Current Therapeutic Drugs Treating COVID-19

There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

Abstract

The current pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has presented unprecedented challenges to the healthcare systems in almost every country around the world. Currently, there are no proven effective vaccines or therapeutic agents against the virus. Current clinical management includes infection prevention and control measures and supportive care including supplemental oxygen and mechanical ventilatory support. Evolving research and clinical data regarding the virologic SARS-CoV-2 suggest a potential list of repurposed drugs with appropriate pharmacological effects and therapeutic efficacies in treating COVID-19 patients. In this review, we will update and summarize the most common and plausible drugs for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. These drugs and therapeutic agents include antiviral agents (remdesivir, hydroxychloroquine, chloroquine, lopinavir, umifenovir, favipiravir, and oseltamivir), and supporting agents (Ascorbic acid, Azithromycin, Corticosteroids, Nitric oxide, IL-6 antagonists), among others. We hope that this review will provide useful and most updated therapeutic drugs to prevent, control, and treat COVID-19 patients until the approval of vaccines and specific drugs targeting SARS-CoV-2.

Related collections

Most cited references 156

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Clinical features of patients infected with 2019 novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China

Chaolin Huang, Yeming Wang, Xingwang Li … (2020)

Summary Background A recent cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan, China, was caused by a novel betacoronavirus, the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). We report the epidemiological, clinical, laboratory, and radiological characteristics and treatment and clinical outcomes of these patients. Methods All patients with suspected 2019-nCoV were admitted to a designated hospital in Wuhan. We prospectively collected and analysed data on patients with laboratory-confirmed 2019-nCoV infection by real-time RT-PCR and next-generation sequencing. Data were obtained with standardised data collection forms shared by WHO and the International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Infection Consortium from electronic medical records. Researchers also directly communicated with patients or their families to ascertain epidemiological and symptom data. Outcomes were also compared between patients who had been admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) and those who had not. Findings By Jan 2, 2020, 41 admitted hospital patients had been identified as having laboratory-confirmed 2019-nCoV infection. Most of the infected patients were men (30 [73%] of 41); less than half had underlying diseases (13 [32%]), including diabetes (eight [20%]), hypertension (six [15%]), and cardiovascular disease (six [15%]). Median age was 49·0 years (IQR 41·0–58·0). 27 (66%) of 41 patients had been exposed to Huanan seafood market. One family cluster was found. Common symptoms at onset of illness were fever (40 [98%] of 41 patients), cough (31 [76%]), and myalgia or fatigue (18 [44%]); less common symptoms were sputum production (11 [28%] of 39), headache (three [8%] of 38), haemoptysis (two [5%] of 39), and diarrhoea (one [3%] of 38). Dyspnoea developed in 22 (55%) of 40 patients (median time from illness onset to dyspnoea 8·0 days [IQR 5·0–13·0]). 26 (63%) of 41 patients had lymphopenia. All 41 patients had pneumonia with abnormal findings on chest CT. Complications included acute respiratory distress syndrome (12 [29%]), RNAaemia (six [15%]), acute cardiac injury (five [12%]) and secondary infection (four [10%]). 13 (32%) patients were admitted to an ICU and six (15%) died. Compared with non-ICU patients, ICU patients had higher plasma levels of IL2, IL7, IL10, GSCF, IP10, MCP1, MIP1A, and TNFα. Interpretation The 2019-nCoV infection caused clusters of severe respiratory illness similar to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus and was associated with ICU admission and high mortality. Major gaps in our knowledge of the origin, epidemiology, duration of human transmission, and clinical spectrum of disease need fulfilment by future studies. Funding Ministry of Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, National Natural Science Foundation of China, and Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission.

0 comments Cited 21817 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Clinical Characteristics of Coronavirus Disease 2019 in China

Wei-jie Guan, Zheng-yi Ni, Yu Hu … (2020)

Abstract Background Since December 2019, when coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) emerged in Wuhan city and rapidly spread throughout China, data have been needed on the clinical characteristics of the affected patients. Methods We extracted data regarding 1099 patients with laboratory-confirmed Covid-19 from 552 hospitals in 30 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities in mainland China through January 29, 2020. The primary composite end point was admission to an intensive care unit (ICU), the use of mechanical ventilation, or death. Results The median age of the patients was 47 years; 41.9% of the patients were female. The primary composite end point occurred in 67 patients (6.1%), including 5.0% who were admitted to the ICU, 2.3% who underwent invasive mechanical ventilation, and 1.4% who died. Only 1.9% of the patients had a history of direct contact with wildlife. Among nonresidents of Wuhan, 72.3% had contact with residents of Wuhan, including 31.3% who had visited the city. The most common symptoms were fever (43.8% on admission and 88.7% during hospitalization) and cough (67.8%). Diarrhea was uncommon (3.8%). The median incubation period was 4 days (interquartile range, 2 to 7). On admission, ground-glass opacity was the most common radiologic finding on chest computed tomography (CT) (56.4%). No radiographic or CT abnormality was found in 157 of 877 patients (17.9%) with nonsevere disease and in 5 of 173 patients (2.9%) with severe disease. Lymphocytopenia was present in 83.2% of the patients on admission. Conclusions During the first 2 months of the current outbreak, Covid-19 spread rapidly throughout China and caused varying degrees of illness. Patients often presented without fever, and many did not have abnormal radiologic findings. (Funded by the National Health Commission of China and others.)

0 comments Cited 13560 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: found

Clinical Characteristics of 138 Hospitalized Patients With 2019 Novel Coronavirus–Infected Pneumonia in Wuhan, China

Dawei Wang, Bo Hu, Fangfang Zhu … (2020)

In December 2019, novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV)-infected pneumonia (NCIP) occurred in Wuhan, China. The number of cases has increased rapidly but information on the clinical characteristics of affected patients is limited.

0 comments Cited 10786 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

All references

Author and article information

Contributors

Ah-Ng Kong:

ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9273-4217

KongT@pharmacy.rutgers.edu

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Curr Pharmacol Rep

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Curr Pharmacol Rep

Title: Current Pharmacology Reports

Publisher: Springer International Publishing (Cham )

ISSN (Electronic): 2198-641X

Publication date (Electronic): 11 May 2020

Pages: 1-15

Affiliations

[1 ]GRID grid.430387.b, ISNI 0000 0004 1936 8796, Department of Pharmaceutics, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, , Rutgers University, ; Piscataway, NJ 08854 USA

[2 ]GRID grid.32566.34, ISNI 0000 0000 8571 0482, Department of Pharmacology, , School of Basic Medical Science, Lanzhou University, ; Lanzhou, 730000 China

[3 ]GRID grid.464322.5, ISNI 0000 0004 1762 5410, Department of Food and Pharmaceutical Engineering, , Guiyang University, ; Guiyang, 550005 China

[4 ]GRID grid.416117.4, ISNI 0000 0004 0383 9004, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset, ; Somerville, NJ 08876 USA

[5 ]GRID grid.430387.b, ISNI 0000 0004 1936 8796, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, ; New Brunswick, NJ 08901 USA

[6 ]GRID grid.430387.b, ISNI 0000 0004 1936 8796, Department of Pharmacy Practice, , Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, ; Piscataway, NJ 08854 USA

Author information

Ah-Ng Kong http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9273-4217

Article

Publisher ID: 216

DOI: 10.1007/s40495-020-00216-7

PMC ID: 7211915

PubMed ID: 32395418

SO-VID: e25c3ade-de03-4bf4-9329-3c69ff3a942b

License:

This article is made available via the PMC Open Access Subset for unrestricted research re-use and secondary analysis in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for the duration of the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic.

History

Funding

Funded by: FundRef http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100000054, National Cancer Institute;

Award ID: CA200129

Award Recipient : Ah-Ng Kong

Funded by: FundRef http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100008460, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health;

An Update on Current Therapeutic Drugs Treating COVID-19

Read this article at

Abstract

Related collections

Novel Coronavirus Disease COVID-19

Most cited references 156

Clinical features of patients infected with 2019 novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China

Clinical Characteristics of Coronavirus Disease 2019 in China

Clinical Characteristics of 138 Hospitalized Patients With 2019 Novel Coronavirus–Infected Pneumonia in Wuhan, China

Author and article information

Contributors

Journal

Affiliations

Author information

Article

History

Funding

Categories

Comments

Comment on this article

Similar content 195

Cited by 255

Most referenced authors 10,639