Chloroquine in controlling biological infections

Abstract

From the middle of the 17th century, Cinchona tree's bark, which contains quinine, was used as an anti-malarial agent. It wasn't until the midtwentieth century that chloroquine was synthesized, followed by its further derivatives. Chloroquine inhibits protozoan polymerase activity, leading to an increase in heme, which is toxic to Plasmodium. The sensitivity of the protozoan to chloroquine depends on its ability to accumulate the drug in aquatic vacuolas. The medicine is also directly toxic to protozoa of the genus Entamoeba histolytica. The immunomodulatory properties of chloroquine have led to its use in collagen diseases, rheumatic disease, chronic rheumatoid and ankylosing arthritis and autoimmune skin disease. Chloroquine has recently been shown to be effective in controlling infection caused by the new Corona virus 2019- nCov (SARS-CoV-2). The drug inhibits viral infectivity by increasing endosomal pH in cells and blocking virus-cell interference by glycosylating SARS-CoV-2 cell receptors. Chloroquine has been shown to be able to bind sialic acid and gangliosides effectively by blocking the combination of virus S protein with gangliosides, which prevents the infection from starting. The effectiveness of the drug in the first stage of infection by SARS-CoV-2 was confirmed in clinical observations and the drug was included in the developed therapeutic recommendations.

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; chloroquine; effectiveness; mechanism of action.