COVID-19 Drugs Chloroquine and Hydroxychloroquine, but Not Azithromycin and Remdesivir, Block hERG Potassium Channels

Abstract

Drug-induced long QT syndrome (LQTS) is an established cardiac side effect of a wide range of medications, which represents a significant concern for drug safety. The common cause for drugs to induce LQTS is through impairing the function of the cardiac potassium channel encoded by the human ether-a-go-go-related­ gene (hERG) which is important for cardiac repolarization. For the recent emergence of COVID-19 caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), several drugs have been investigated as potential therapies, however there are concerns about their QT prolongation risk.