Novel and Controversial Therapies in COVID-19

Romil Singh; Likhita Shaik; Ishita Mehra; Rahul Kashyap; Salim Surani

doi:10.2174/1874306402014010079

Novel and Controversial Therapies in COVID-19

Open Respir Med J. 2020 Dec 31:14:79-86. doi: 10.2174/1874306402014010079. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Romil Singh¹, Likhita Shaik², Ishita Mehra^{3

4}, Rahul Kashyap⁵, Salim Surani⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medicine, Metropolitan Hospital, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India.
² Department of Oncology, Department of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
³ Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
⁴ Department of Internal Medicine, North Alabama Medical Center, Florence, AL, USA.
⁵ Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
⁶ Department of Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine & Pharmacology, Texas A&M University, TX, USA.

Abstract

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is responsible for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, which has led scientists all over the world to push for the identification of novel therapies for COVID-19. The lack of a vaccine and specific treatment has led to a surge of novel therapies and their publicity in recent times. Under these unprecedented circumstances, a myriad of drugs used for other diseases is being evaluated and repositioned to treat COVID-19 (example- Remdesivir, Baricitinib). While multiple trials for potential drugs and vaccines are ongoing, and there are many unproven remedies with little or no supporting evidence. Presently, discussions are revolving around the use of multivitamins (Vitamin, C, D, A), minerals (selenium, zinc), probiotics, flavonoids, polyphenols, and herbal remedies (curcumin, artemisinin, herbal drinks). Our review delves further into the details of some of these controversial therapies for COVID-19.

Keywords: Antioxidant; COVID-19; Controversial therapy; Novel therapy; Pneumonia; Review.

Publication types

Review