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Review
. 2020 Dec:216:107672.
doi: 10.1016/j.pharmthera.2020.107672. Epub 2020 Sep 8.

Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine in the treatment of malaria and repurposing in treating COVID-19

Zi-Ning Lei  1 , Zhuo-Xun Wu  2 , Shaowei Dong  3 , Dong-Hua Yang  4 , Litu Zhang  5 , Zunfu Ke  6 , Chang Zou  7 , Zhe-Sheng Chen  8
Affiliations
Review

Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine in the treatment of malaria and repurposing in treating COVID-19

Zi-Ning Lei et al. Pharmacol Ther. 2020 Dec.

Abstract

Chloroquine (CQ) and Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) have been commonly used for the treatment and prevention of malaria, and the treatment of autoimmune diseases for several decades. As their new mechanisms of actions are identified in recent years, CQ and HCQ have wider therapeutic applications, one of which is to treat viral infectious diseases. Since the pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), CQ and HCQ have been subjected to a number of in vitro and in vivo tests, and their therapeutic prospects for COVID-19 have been proposed. In this article, the applications and mechanisms of action of CQ and HCQ in their conventional fields of anti-malaria and anti-rheumatism, as well as their repurposing prospects in anti-virus are reviewed. The current trials and future potential of CQ and HCQ in combating COVID-19 are discussed.

Keywords: COVID-19; Chloroquine (CQ); Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ); Malaria.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The number of CQ/HCQ related clinical trials registered in each country from January to May 2020.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Schematic summary of anti-malarial, anti-viral, and anti-rheumatic mechanisms of action of CQ and HCQ. The biological processes where CQ/HCQ has inhibitory effects are marked with red crosses. The pH elevating effect of CQ/HCQ in lysosome and endosome is represented by a pink up arrow next to the lysosome and endosome.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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