Three antihistamine drugs have shown some effectiveness in inhibiting cell infection by the new coronavirus responsible for covid-19, according to preliminary results from a University of Florida study released on Saturday.
Findings about the effects of a group of antihistamines on the market were achieved by analyzing samples in the laboratory and in a detailed analysis of nearly 250,000 medical records of patients in California, explains a note from the University of Florida Health.
Preliminary results reveal that the use of hydroxyzine, diphenhydramine and azelastine is associated with “A reduced probability of testing positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for covid-19”, stressed the immunologist and professor at that institution, David Ostrov.
Then, we found that these specific drugs showed direct antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2 in the laboratory ”, he added.
Data from the study, which has lead investigator Leah Reznikov, a professor at the University of Florida, may support the launch of a randomized, controlled clinical trial to determine whether the use of specific antihistamines “Can treat or even prevent covid-19 in humans”says the statement.
The fact that these drugs actually inhibit the virus in the laboratory does not necessarily mean that they actively inhibit it in people, but they can do it, “said Ostrov, stressing that a” formal cause and effect relationship “has not been established., which explains the need for further investigation.
The researchers’ work focused on the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE2), a protein and “Gateway” that the virus uses to invade human cells, and in the analysis of nearly a quarter of a million patients in California.
They found that people 61 or older who had taken certain antihistamines were less likely to test positive for the new coronavirus than those who did not take the drugs.
Later, they found that hydroxyzine, diphenhydramine and azelastine “Revealed direct and statistically significant antiviral effects” on SARS-Cov-2.
According to Reznikov, the data suggest that these three antihistamines may disrupt the virus’s interactions with ACE2 or join with another protein that interferes with viral replication.
The researchers stressed, however, the importance of people not self-medicating with these antihistamines as a preventive or treatment measure for covid-19 and that any type of use other than that indicated on the package insert should be consulted with the doctor.
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