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Review
. 2020 Dec;235(12):9133-9142.
doi: 10.1002/jcp.29785. Epub 2020 May 11.

A global treatments for coronaviruses including COVID-19

Bahman Yousefi  1 , Saeid Valizadeh  2 , Hadi Ghaffari  2 , Azadeh Vahedi  2 , Mohsen Karbalaei  3 , Majid Eslami  2   4
Affiliations
Review

A global treatments for coronaviruses including COVID-19

Bahman Yousefi et al. J Cell Physiol. 2020 Dec.

Abstract

In late December 2019 in Wuhan, China, several patients with viral pneumonia were identified as 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). So far, there are no specific treatments for patients with coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19), and the treatments available today are based on previous experience with similar viruses such as severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (SARS-CoV), Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), and Influenza virus. In this article, we have tried to reach a therapeutic window of drugs available to patients with COVID-19. Cathepsin L is required for entry of the 2019-nCoV virus into the cell as target teicoplanin inhibits virus replication. Angiotensin-converting-enzyme 2 (ACE2) in soluble form as a recombinant protein can prevent the spread of coronavirus by restricting binding and entry. In patients with COVID-19, hydroxychloroquine decreases the inflammatory response and cytokine storm, but overdose causes toxicity and mortality. Neuraminidase inhibitors such as oseltamivir, peramivir, and zanamivir are invalid for 2019-nCoV and are not recommended for treatment but protease inhibitors such as lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r) inhibit the progression of MERS-CoV disease and can be useful for patients of COVID-19 and, in combination with Arbidol, has a direct antiviral effect on early replication of SARS-CoV. Ribavirin reduces hemoglobin concentrations in respiratory patients, and remdesivir improves respiratory symptoms. Use of ribavirin in combination with LPV/r in patients with SARS-CoV reduces acute respiratory distress syndrome and mortality, which has a significant protective effect with the addition of corticosteroids. Favipiravir increases clinical recovery and reduces respiratory problems and has a stronger antiviral effect than LPV/r. currently, appropriate treatment for patients with COVID-19 is an ACE2 inhibitor and a clinical problem reducing agent such as favipiravir in addition to hydroxychloroquine and corticosteroids.

Keywords: COVID-19; antiviral; coronavirus; drug; treatment.

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Conflict of interest statement

All the authors declare that there are no conflict of interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Molecular mechanisms and therapeutic targets of drugs that have been used to treat COVID‐19. ACE2, angiotensin‐converting enzyme 2 receptor; COVID‐19, coronavirus disease‐19; ER, endoplasmic reticulum; IMPDH, inosine monophosphate dehydrogenase; RdRp, RNA‐dependent RNA polymerase
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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