Ivermectin, a therapeutic against RNA viruses and an emerging candidate for COVID-19 patients: A Short Review

A highly contagious Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to spread across the globe as scientists still search for an efficacious treatment to cure those infected and to curb this pandemic crisis. Despite several clinical trials being underway to test the possible therapies to combat COVID-19, the global response to the outbreak remains profoundly limited to monitoring and containment. In recent clinical trials, the broad-spectrum antiparasitic agent Ivermectin was found to be efficacious against Severe Acute Respiratory Coronavirus 2 (SARS CoV-2); the strain of coronavirus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), in vitro. The researchers reported Vero/hSLAM cells infected with SARS CoV-2, treated with Ivermectin, showing a 93% to 99% reduction in viral replication within 24-48 hours of administration. Since Ivermectin plays a pivotal role in several biological mechanisms, it may serve as a potential candidate in the treatment of a wide range of viruses including COVID-19 along with other types of positive-sense singlestranded RNA viruses. Previous clinical trials of ivermectin have also exhibited antiviral potential against several RNA viruses, such as Flaviviruses (Zika virus, Chikungunya virus(CHIK-V), Dengue virus(DENV), Yellow Fever Virus(YFV), West Nile Virus(WNV) and others), Human immunodeficiency virus – 1(HIV-1) and Influenza Virus. However, recent pharmacokinetic data pertinent to ivermectin attained from excessive dosing clinical studies demonstrates that the inhibitory concentrations of SARS-CoV-2 are not likely to be attainable in humans. To safeguard patients from these deleterious effects due to excessive ivermectin dosing in COVID-19 patients, it is imperative to conduct a further investigation through clinical trials to appraise the possible antiviral benefits of ivermectin for SARS CoV-2 infection in humans