Abstract
This study analyzed the effect of Arbidol, a broad-spectrum antiviral compound, on the outcomes of COVID-19 patients. Records of 252 COVID-19 patients were retrospectively analyzed from February 13 to February 29, 2020 in 4 inpatient wards in the Cancer Center, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China. The rate of clinical improvement was significantly greater among patients treated with Arbidol than among those who did not receive Arbidol (86.8% vs. 54.2%). In moderately and severely ill patients, the clinical improvement rates in the Arbidol group were 95.6% and 81.7%, respectively, which was significantly higher than in the no-Arbidol group (66.6% and 53.8%). Among critically ill patients, however, there was no significant difference. The levels of hypersensitive C-reactive protein, lactate dehydrogenase, D-dimer, IL-6, and IL-10 were increased in non-improved patients but declined during treatment in the improved patients. This suggests these mediators are associated with the disease severity and could potentially serve as prognostic markers. Moreover, our data demonstrate that Arbidol is effective in the treatment of COVID-19 patients and may serve as a cost-effective antiviral treatment strategy for patients with moderate to severe COVID-19 symptoms.
Highlights
In December 2019, a group of patients in Wuhan, China, who were related to the Huanan seafood market, presented with pneumonia of an unknown cause
228 cases in the Arbidol group and 24 cases in the No-Arbidol group were enrolled in this study (Figure 2)
Our study showed that the overall clinical improvement rate after Arbidol treatment was 86.8%, which was significantly higher than in COVID-19 patients not treated with Arbidol (54.2%)
Summary
In December 2019, a group of patients in Wuhan, China, who were related to the Huanan seafood market, presented with pneumonia of an unknown cause. Gene sequencing of the virus isolated from these patients revealed infection with a novel type of coronavirus, named as 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The current management of COVID-19 is mainly supportive care, and some anti-virus drugs maybe effective for SARS-CoV-2 [5, 6]. Arbidol is a small indole-derivative molecule, licensed in Russia and China for prophylaxis and treatment of influenza and other respiratory viral infections [7]. Arbidol demonstrates inhibitory activity against several enveloped and non-enveloped RNA and DNA viruses, including hepatitis B and C, respiratory syncytial virus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARSCoV), and middle east respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) [7, 8]. SARS-CoV-2 is about 78% homologous to SARS-CoV and 58% to MERS-CoV [9]
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