Potential new treatment strategies for COVID-19: is there a role for bromhexine as add-on therapy?
Intern Emerg Med
; 15(5): 801-812, 2020 Aug.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-378214
ABSTRACT
Of huge importance now is to provide a fast, cost-effective, safe, and immediately available pharmaceutical solution to curb the rapid global spread of SARS-CoV-2. Recent publications on SARS-CoV-2 have brought attention to the possible benefit of chloroquine in the treatment of patients infected by SARS-CoV-2. Whether chloroquine can treat SARS-CoV-2 alone and also work as a prophylactic is doubtful. An effective prophylactic medication to prevent viral entry has to contain, at least, either a protease inhibitor or a competitive virus ACE2-binding inhibitor. Using bromhexine at a dosage that selectively inhibits TMPRSS2 and, in so doing, inhibits TMPRSS2-specific viral entry is likely to be effective against SARS-CoV-2. We propose the use of bromhexine as a prophylactic and treatment. We encourage the scientific community to assess bromhexine clinically as a prophylactic and curative treatment. If proven to be effective, this would allow a rapid, accessible, and cost-effective application worldwide.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Pneumonia, Viral
/
Bromhexine
/
Serine Endopeptidases
/
Coronavirus Infections
/
Expectorants
Type of study:
Prognostic study
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Intern Emerg Med
Journal subject:
Emergency Medicine
/
Internal Medicine
Year:
2020
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
S11739-020-02383-3
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