Insights from nanomedicine into chloroquine efficacy against COVID-19
Date
2020Journal
Nature NanotechnologyPublisher
32203437Type
Article
Metadata
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Recent multicentre clinical trials and cell culture studies suggest that the 70-year-old malaria drug, chloroquine, may potentially display therapeutic efficacy against COVID-19 (corona virus disease 2019), a rapidly spreading viral infection that can cause pneumonia-induced death in approximately 2.5% of infected individuals. Based on the preliminary clinical trial findings, chloroquine has been included in federal guidelines for treatment of COVID-19 in the People’s Republic of China. However, caution should be exercised when making premature interpretations, as clinical trials are still ongoing and interim trial data have not yet been made available. Given the current lack of an approved and effective vaccine for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus causing COVID-19, it is important to evaluate potential prophylactic and/or therapeutic effects of drugs that are clinically approved for other indications. Chloroquine and its derivative, hydroxychloroquine, have a long history as safe and inexpensive drugs for use as prophylactic measures in malaria-endemic regions and as daily treatments for autoimmune diseases with the most common side effect being eye damage after long-term use. Although previous studies have revealed that chloroquine has therapeutic activity against viruses5, including human coronavirus OC43 in animal models and SARS-CoV in cell culture studies, anti-viral mechanisms of chloroquine remain speculative. Chloroquine has been used in the field of nanomedicine for the investigation of nanoparticle uptake in cells, and, therefore, insights from synthetic nanoparticle interactions with cells in the presence of chloroquine may reveal mechanisms that are active at early stages prior to viral replication. Specifically, nanomedicine studies may provide clues on chloroquine-induced alterations of SARS-CoV-2 cellular uptake.Sponsors
We acknowledge funding in the area of namomedicine for infectious disease research from the following sources: the Department of Defense under award number DODW8IXWH1910926 (T.Y.H.) and the National Institutes of Health under award numbers R01HD090927, R01AI122932, R01AI113725, R21AI126361, R21EB026347 and R21AI52318.Keyword
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)SARS-CoV-2
Drug Therapy
Clinical Trial
Chloroquine
Hydroxychloroquine
Nanomedicine
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https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85083112913&doi=10.1038%2fs41565-020-0674-9&partnerID=40&md5=d59ba0d91eb9b93987534bbd3d0f15d0; http://hdl.handle.net/10713/12659ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1038/s41565-020-0674-9