Potential effectiveness and adverse implications of repurposing doxycycline in COVID-19 treatment

Abstract

ABSTRACT Introduction: COVID-19 infection with no known-specific drugs or vaccines has impacted mankind and has become beyond precedence. Currently, re-purposing of existing drugs is the only therapeutic option for managing COVID-19 symptoms and associated co-infections to reduce mortality. Antimicrobials as varied as antiparasitic, antiviral, and antibiotics are under various stages of evaluation. Areas covered: Recently, doxycycline, a broad-spectrum antibiotic that has also reported antiviral and anti-inflammatory properties was widely investigated in clinical trials, either alone or in combination with other drugs, and repurposed for COVID-19 treatment. In the review, the potential therapeutic applications of doxycycline in COVID-19 treatment and its potential adverse implications with respect to antimicrobial resistance bestowed by repurposing the antibiotic have been expounded. Expert opinion: ‘Fighting disease with already existing antibiotics’ and ‘antimicrobial resistance progression’ are like two arms of a balance that has to be carefully equilibrated. Any imbalance by the inappropriate or indiscriminate use of the repurposed drugs would cause a disastrous increase in antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Hence, cautious parallel assessment of potential long-term consequences of AMR is of great importance to mankind as its impacts would prevail even after the current pandemic.