Hypothesis
Version 1
Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed
Can Zinc Correction in SARS-CoV-2 Patients Improve Treatment Outcomes?
Version 1
: Received: 6 April 2020 / Approved: 7 April 2020 / Online: 7 April 2020 (11:22:53 CEST)
Version 2 : Received: 7 September 2020 / Approved: 8 September 2020 / Online: 8 September 2020 (10:09:19 CEST)
Version 2 : Received: 7 September 2020 / Approved: 8 September 2020 / Online: 8 September 2020 (10:09:19 CEST)
How to cite: Noeparast, A.; Verschelden, G. Can Zinc Correction in SARS-CoV-2 Patients Improve Treatment Outcomes?. Preprints 2020, 2020040094. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202004.0094.v1 Noeparast, A.; Verschelden, G. Can Zinc Correction in SARS-CoV-2 Patients Improve Treatment Outcomes?. Preprints 2020, 2020040094. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202004.0094.v1
Abstract
The ongoing severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic for which there is no established treatment available yet, has caused more than 68,000 deaths so far. Following the SARS-CoV outbreak in 2003, an Italian group described a hypothesis about the efficacy of two old drugs: Chloroquine (CQ) and Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), against SARS-CoV and its future emergents. Later, this hypothesis was shown to be relevant in-vitro. Due to the high genetic similarity of SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV, the hypothesis introduced by Savarino et al. and the further supportive in-vitro evidence served a rational ground for three different Chinese groups to test the efficacy of CQ or HCQ against SARS-CoV-2 in-vitro. These studies showed promising in-vitro efficacy of CQ and HCQ against SARS-CoV-2. Unfortunately, in the absence of sufficient clinical data on the (in)efficacy of CQ and HCQ in SARS-CoV-2 patients, the compassionate and off-label use of these medications is becoming politicized. Herein, we underline some critical features of the CQ/HCQ mechanism of action concerning SARS-CoV-2. Moreover, we put forward a hypothesis based on three lines of evidence on a probable link between zinc-deficiency/zinc correction and response to CQ/HCQ- and possibly other SARS-CoV-2 treatments.
Keywords
SARS-CoV-2; zinc; zn; zinc-deficiency; cytokine storm
Subject
Medicine and Pharmacology, Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine
Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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