Conclusion:
This study showed that lopinavir plus doxycycline therapy is an
effective treatment amongst moderate to severe COVID-19 patients.
Key words : Lopinavir; Faviprevir ; Doxycycline ; COVID-19 ;
Coronavirus ; Hydroxychloroquine
INTRODUCTION
The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by the novel severe
acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has collapsed the
infrastructure and health care systems of countries
worldwide.1 Currently, there is no approved treatment
for COVID-19. Hence, efforts for the development and repurposing of
efficient and effective medications are ongoing.2
A protease inhibitor, lopinavir (LPV), had been associated with reduced
mortality and morbidity rate in clinical studies during the SARS and
MERS outbreaks.3,4 The main proteases of SARS-COV and
SARS-COV-2 are 96% identical, and in silico studies have shown that HIV
protease inhibitors can inhibit coronavirus protease.5Clinical trials of the antiviral efficacy of drugs, including LPV, have
been registered and are ongoing with regard to
COVID-19.6 However, while randomized clinical trials
are continuing, observational data are also urgently needed to assess
the efficacy and safety of this antiviral drug in COVID-19 treatment.
The scientific committee of the Turkish Health Ministry currently
recommends hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) plus azithromycin or favipiravir
(FVP) in the treatment of COVID-19 patients. The recommendations of the
committee are widely applied. However, to our knowledge at least one
Turkish medical center exclusively uses LPV in combination with the
medication doxycycline in the management of moderate to severe COVID-19
cases. Comparing clinical outcomes of various anti-viral regimens is of
scientific interest.
In this study, we compared the outcomes between patients who were
treated with LPV in combination with doxycycline at one medical center
and the patients treated with other antivirals regimens at another
medical center.
OBJECTIVES