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. 2020 Oct:143:109843.
doi: 10.1016/j.mehy.2020.109843. Epub 2020 May 18.

Is the anti-filarial drug diethylcarbamazine useful to treat COVID-19?

Anuruddha Abeygunasekera  1 , Saroj Jayasinghe  2
Affiliations

Is the anti-filarial drug diethylcarbamazine useful to treat COVID-19?

Anuruddha Abeygunasekera et al. Med Hypotheses. 2020 Oct.

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 virus has resulted in a devastating pandemic of COVID-19. Exploring compounds that could offer a breakthrough in treatment is the need of the hour. Re-positioning cheap, freely available and safe drugs is a priority. The paper proposes evidence for the potential use of diethylcarbamazine (DEC) in the treatment of COVID-19. DEC has inhibitory effects on arachidonic acid metabolism to prostaglandins, little known anti-viral effects on animal retroviruses and demonstrated anti-inflammatory actions in animal models of lung inflammation indicating the need to explore this hypothesis further. We believe this is the first time DEC is being proposed to treat COVID-19.

Keywords: COVID-19; Corona; Diethyl carbamazine DEC; SARS-CoV-2.

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