Research progress in application of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine / 国际生物医学工程杂志

ABSTRACT

Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine were primarily used to treat malaria. With continuous research on their mechanism of action, their application range has gradually expanded to treat serious infectious diseases, rheumatic immune diseases, tumors, etc. Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine are the two most attractive drugs developed in the past 50 years, and their efficacy in the treatment of various non-malaria diseases has been increasingly recognized by researchers. The results of in-depth research show that chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine have antiviral effects against coronavirus, influenza virus and Ebola virus, have significant clinical efficacy in the treatment of rheumatoid diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis, and can enhance the drug sensitivity of tumor cells by combining with classic anticancer drugs. The main adverse reaction of hydroxychloroquine is eye damage, especially retinopathy. Therefore, patients treated with this drug should undergo regular eye examinations. In this review paper, the chemical structure, pharmacokinetics, application status and pharmaceutical care of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine were summarized. This paper looks forward to providing help for the rational use of these two drugs in the future.