Efficacy and Safety of Arbidol in Treatment of Patients with COVID-19 Infection: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Sara Ghaderkhani; Arezoo Salami Khaneshan; Amir Salami; Parvaneh Ebrahimi Alavijeh; Hamid Emadi Kouchak; Hossein Khalili; Ali Asadollahi-Amin; SeyedAhmad SeyedAlinaghi; Zahra Ahmadinejad; Mehrnaz Rasolinejad; Mahboubeh Hajiabdolbaghi; Sirous Jafari; Malihe Hasannezhad; Arash Seifi; Ladan Abasian; Fereshte Ghiasvand

doi:10.18502/jimc.v5i2.10468

Sara Ghaderkhani Iranian Research Center for HIV/AIDS, Iranian Institute for Reduction of High-Risk Behaviors, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Arezoo Salami Khaneshan Iranian Research Center for HIV/AIDS, Iranian Institute for Reduction of High-Risk Behaviors, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Amir Salami Iranian Research Center for HIV/AIDS, Iranian Institute for Reduction of High-Risk Behaviors, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Parvaneh Ebrahimi Alavijeh Department of Infectious Diseases, Imam Khomeini Hospital Complex, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Hamid Emadi Kouchak Department of Infectious Diseases, Imam Khomeini Hospital Complex, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Hossein Khalili Department of Infectious Diseases, Imam Khomeini Hospital Complex, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Ali Asadollahi-Amin Iranian Research Center for HIV/AIDS, Iranian Institute for Reduction of High-Risk Behaviors, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
SeyedAhmad SeyedAlinaghi Iranian Research Center for HIV/AIDS, Iranian Institute for Reduction of High-Risk Behaviors, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Zahra Ahmadinejad Liver Transplantation Research Center, Department of Infectious Diseases, Imam Khomeini Hospital Complex, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Mehrnaz Rasolinejad Department of Infectious Diseases, Imam Khomeini Hospital Complex, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Mahboubeh Hajiabdolbaghi Department of Infectious Diseases, Imam Khomeini Hospital Complex, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Sirous Jafari Department of Infectious Diseases, Imam Khomeini Hospital Complex, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Malihe Hasannezhad Iranian Research Center for HIV/AIDS, Iranian Institute for Reduction of High-Risk Behaviors, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Arash Seifi Department of Infectious Diseases, Imam Khomeini Hospital Complex, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Ladan Abasian Department of Infectious Diseases, Imam Khomeini Hospital Complex, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Fereshte Ghiasvand Liver Transplantation Research Center, Department of Infectious Diseases, Imam Khomeini Hospital Complex, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/jimc.v5i2.10468

Keywords: COVID-19, Hydroxychloroquine, Umifenovir

Abstract

Background: COVID-19 has led to the demand for finding effective antiviral agents. Preliminary experiments showed Umifenovir inhibit replication in vivo. There is limited data on the clinical efficacy of COVID-19-infected pneumonia. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate this medication based on clinical findings.

Methods: The present study was designed to investigate the advantages and disadvantages of Umifenovir and compared to empirical treatments. For this purpose, multi-stage sampling was considered. 56 people who had mild-to-moderate symptoms without signs of pneumonia, were selected by accidental non-random sampling method and divided into two groups [(group A with Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and group B in combination with Umifenovir] by randomized block sampling (1:1). During the study, three patients left the case group. Their clinical signs and symptoms were evaluated on 3^rd, 7^th, and 14^th day after taking these medicines in the disease course. The SPSS software was used for data analysis and the significance level was considered to be p<0.05.

Results: On the seventh day after visiting the patients, there were statistically significant differences in recuperation dry cough (p=0.001), weakness (p=0.004), gastrointestinal symptoms (p=0.043) and shortness of breath (p=0.001) between the two groups so that group B patients (HCQ and Umifenovir) had a faster recovery. In patients treated with HCQ and Umifenovir compared to the control group, myalgia (p=0.03), gastrointestinal symptoms (p=0.047) and weakness (p=0.007) improved significantly earlier during the illness.

Conclusion: Evaluation of the clinical findings in mild-to-moderate COVID-19 patients’ symptoms was performed and it was shown that recuperation was faster in the group who received both HCQ and Umifenovir.