Therapeutic options for COVID-19: a quick review

Abstract

Since the announcement by the World Health Organization (WHO) of an outbreak of a contagious respiratory viral pneumonia in Wuhan, China, in December 2019 (later named as COVID-19), several research works have been carried out to unstitch the therapeutic options and combat the disease using various aproaches and modalities. These works are currently at different clinical trial stages, and their results may be determined by the outcome of the ongoing trial process. There is the need for a collection of information regarding the availlable therapeutic options related to COVID-19. this article therefore reviewed emerging and re-emerging therapeutic compounds/drugs used in COVID-19 management and reports of clinical trials, with the view to summarize and highlight their prospect and possible adverse effects to allow more extensive choice by clinicians, researchers, and policymakers. The approach used involved retrieval of related collections found in selected repositories including, Medline, Scopus, PubMed, and Google scholar. Only experimental or clinical studies were included. Out of the 39 materials retrieved, 26 (66.67%) studies were based on clinical trials, 12 (30.77%) were classified as in vitro studies, and only one (2.56%) involved experimental animal study. Of the agents evaluated for COVID-19 therapeutics, 15 (38.46%) were anti-viral, four (10.26%) antimalarial, four studies were immunotherapeutics (10.26%), two studies (5.13%) were antibacterial, while, one (2.56%) study wasfor antiparasitic , anticoagulant, anti-inflammatory, anti-viral/antimalarial, and anti-viral/herbal combination for each. Also, eight studies (20.51%) were antibiotic/antimalarial.. This review indicates that there is both a race and quest in the test of antiviral agents against COVID-19 and that arbidol seems to have dominated in the studies analyzed. The use of anticoagulants and antibiotics, such as teicoplanin and azithromycin/hydroxychloroquine were reported to also play a leading role in the management of the disease. Likewise, dexamethasone has been recently claimed to be effective in patients in need of respiratory assistance. Based on unresolved controversies and inconclusive findings, it could be said that generally, a single and specific therapeutics to COVID-19 is still a mirage. There is, thus, an urgent need to test more potent compounds and agents to establish much safer and highly efficacious drugs/agents for the disease, even as we continue to learn more about the disease as well as the characteristic of the virus.

Keywords:

• COVID-19 therapeutic options
• clinical trials
• dexamethasone
• arbidol
• chloroquine
• ivermectin
• remdesivir

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Muhammad Sani Ismaila

Dr Muhammad Sani Ismaila DVM, MSc, PhD. Dr Sani is a lecturer with the Pharmacology unit, Department of Basic Veterinary Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, St. Augustine Campus. His area of interest is Molecular Pharmacology and Toxicology and Alternative therapy.

Faruku Bande

Dr Faruku Bande DVM, MSc, PhD Dr Faruku is a senior Lecturer with the Department of Vet.Microbiology Bayero University Kano. His area of interest is in Virology, immunology and vaccinology.

Aminu Ishaka

Dr Aminu Ishaka MBBS, MMDS, PhD. Dr Aminu is a senior Lecturer , Department of Medical Biochemistry College of Health Science Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto, Nigeria. He specialized in Medical Biotechnology, Nanotechnology and Nutraceuticals.

Aminatu Abubakar Sani

Dr. Aminatu Abubakar Sani DVM, MSc Dr Aminatu is a Lecturer with the department of Vet. Pharmacology and Toxicology. Her area of interest and research is Chemotherapy and Pharmacokinetics of antiviral drugs.

Karla Georges

Dr Karla Georges BSc., DVM, MSc , PhD Dr Georges is the Director of the School of Veterinary Medicine, The University Of the West Indies St Augustine Campus and a Senior Lecturer in Veterinary Public Health. She has over 20 years experience in research and curriculum delivery. She has published widely in Veterinary Public Health , the epidemiology of tick borne diseases and ethnoveterinary medicine.