Interferon-α2b Treatment for COVID-19
Open Access
- 15 May 2020
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Frontiers Media SA in Frontiers in Immunology
- Vol. 11, 1061
- https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2020.01061
Abstract
The global pandemic of COVID-19 cases caused by infection with SARS-CoV-2 is ongoing, with no approved antiviral intervention. We describe here the effects of treatment with interferon (IFN)-α2b in a cohort of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Wuhan, China. In this uncontrolled, exploratory study, 77 adults hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19 were treated with either nebulized IFN-α2b (5 mU b.i.d.), arbidol (200 mg t.i.d.) or a combination of IFN-α2b plus arbidol. Serial SARS-CoV-2 testing along with hematological measurements, including cell counts, blood biochemistry and serum cytokine levels, and temperature and blood oxygen saturation levels, were recorded for each patient during their hospital stay. Treatment with IFN-α2b with or without arbidol significantly reduced the duration of detectable virus in the upper respiratory tract and in parallel reduced duration of elevated blood levels for the inflammatory markers IL-6 and CRP. These findings suggest that IFN-α2b should be further investigated as a therapy in COVID-19 cases.Keywords
Other Versions
This publication has 13 references indexed in Scilit:
- Prophylactic and therapeutic remdesivir (GS-5734) treatment in the rhesus macaque model of MERS-CoV infectionProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2020
- Breakthrough: Chloroquine phosphate has shown apparent efficacy in treatment of COVID-19 associated pneumonia in clinical studiesBioScience Trends, 2020
- Genomic characterisation and epidemiology of 2019 novel coronavirus: implications for virus origins and receptor bindingThe Lancet, 2020
- Global virus outbreaks: Interferons as 1st respondersSeminars in Immunology, 2019
- Acute Lung Injury: A Clinical and Molecular ReviewArchives Of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, 2016
- Efficacy and biological safety of lopinavir/ritonavir based anti-retroviral therapy in HIV-1-infected patients: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trialsScientific Reports, 2015
- Arbidol as a broad-spectrum antiviral: An updateAntiviral Research, 2014
- Role of lopinavir/ritonavir in the treatment of SARS: initial virological and clinical findingsThorax, 2004
- Interferon Alfacon-1 Plus Corticosteroids in Severe Acute Respiratory SyndromePublished by American Medical Association (AMA) ,2003