Fluvoxamine, an antidepressant that has the potential to treat Covid-19, is the subject of a clinical trial being conducted by researchers from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, in the United States.
The trial comes after researchers at the University of blood pressure monitors pipeline products market discovered that the drug may prevent immune system overreactions known as cytokine storms, which have the potential to cause organ failure that is life-threatening.
Fluvoxamine may prevent sepsis, a fatal inflammatory disease characterized by an overactive immune response, the UVA researchers discovered last year. It was observed that the drug reduced the production of cytokines.
When tested in mice, the drug proved to be effective as a treatment for sepsis prevention, according to the researchers.
Alban Gaultier, a researcher in the UVA neuroscience department, stated: This treatment would be a safe and cost-effective method of combating the pandemic if it was found to be effective in reducing the symptoms of Covid-19.
Additionally, "this approach could also be applied to other inflammatory conditions, such as sepsis, driven by cytokine storms,"
The Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis's Covid-19 trial will enroll 152 people in Illinois and Missouri. During at-home quarantine, participants will receive fluvoxamine or a placebo.
In addition, patients will receive automatic blood pressure monitors, fingertip oxygen sensors, and thermometers so that they can self-report daily vital signs to the research team via phone calls or online.
According to Eric Lenze, a researcher at Washington University, Although using a psychiatric medication to treat Covid-19 may sound counterintuitive, it is not any more so than using a malaria medication.
We know how to use this medication safely because it has been around for decades. If it works, it could be a great drug to use in the outpatient treatment of Covid.
Even if the drug doesn't work against Covid-19, researchers think that participants will benefit from doctors' close supervision.
