Abstract
Background: There are no effective therapies for patients with coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19).
Methods: Forty-one patients with confirmed COVID-19 were enrolled in the study and divided into two groups: artemisinin-piperaquine (AP) (n = 23) and control (n = 18). The primary outcome were the time taken to reach undetectable levels of severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) and the percentage of participants with undetectable SARS-CoV-2 on days 7, 10, 14, and 28. The computed tomography (CT) imaging changes within 10 days, corrected QT interval changes, adverse events, and abnormal laboratory parameters were the secondary outcomes.
Results: The mean time to reach undetectable viral RNA (mean ± standard deviation) was 10.6 ± 1.1 days (95% confidence interval [CI] 8.4-12.8) for the AP group and 19.3 ± 2.1 days (95% CI 15.1-23.5) for the control group. The percentages of patients with undetectable viral RNA on days 7, 10, 14, 21, and 28 were 26.1%, 43.5%, 78.3%, 100%, and 100%, respectively, in the AP group and 5.6%, 16.7%, 44.4%, 55.6%, and 72.2%, respectively, in the control group. The CT imaging within 10 days post-treatment showed no significant between-group differences (P > 0.05). Both groups had mild adverse events.
Conclusions: In patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19, the time to reach undetectable SARS-CoV-2 was significantly shorter in the AP group than that in the control group. However, physicians should consider QT interval changes before using AP.
Keywords: Antimalarial; Artemisinin; COVID-19; Piperaquine; SARS-CoV-2.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, antimalarial, Artemisinin, Piperaquine, 【초록키워드】 coronavirus disease, SARS-CoV-2, coronavirus, antimalarial, Artemisinin, coronavirus disease-2019, adverse events, Computed tomography, Severe acute respiratory syndrome, Viral, Patient, Mild, Viral RNA, respiratory, group, QT interval, change, severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2, Piperaquine, Mild-to-moderate, changes, Standard deviation, Primary outcome, control group, two groups, 95% CI, 95% confidence interval, both groups, Secondary outcomes, percentages, participant, effective therapy, physician, laboratory parameter, Mean ± standard deviation, enrolled, percentage, significantly shorter, undetectable, 【제목키워드】 Treatment, Efficacy, Open-label, Safety, Controlled trial,