Vittoria Bauso Luana, Imbesi Chiara, Irene Gasparo, Calì Gabriella, Bitto Alessandra
Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Messina, 98125 Messina, Italy.
Laboratori Campisi, Corso Vittorio Emanuele 231, 96012 Avola, Italy.
Pharmaceuticals (Basel). 2021 May 25;14(6):503. doi: 10.3390/ph14060503.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The outbreak of this coronavirus was first identified in Wuhan (Hubei, China) in December 2019, and it was declared as pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) in March 2020. Today, several vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 have been approved, and some neutralizing monoclonal antibodies are being tested as therapeutic approaches for COVID-19 but, one of the key questions is whether both vaccines and monoclonal antibodies could be effective against infections by new SARS-CoV-2 variants. Nevertheless, there are currently more than 1000 ongoing clinical trials focusing on the use and effectiveness of antiviral drugs as a possible therapeutic treatment. Among the classes of antiviral drugs are included 3CL protein inhibitors, RNA synthesis inhibitors and other small molecule drugs which target the ability of SARS-COV-2 to interact with host cells. Considering the need to find specific treatment to prevent the emergent outbreak, the aim of this review is to explain how some repurposed antiviral drugs, indicated for the treatment of other viral infections, could be potential candidates for the treatment of COVID-19.
严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2）是引发2019冠状病毒病（COVID-19）的病毒。这种冠状病毒疫情于2019年12月在中国武汉首次被发现，并于2020年3月被世界卫生组织（WHO）宣布为大流行病。如今，几种针对SARS-CoV-2的疫苗已获批准，一些中和单克隆抗体正在作为COVID-19的治疗方法进行测试，但关键问题之一是疫苗和单克隆抗体是否都能有效对抗新的SARS-CoV-2变种感染。尽管如此，目前有1000多项正在进行的临床试验聚焦于抗病毒药物作为可能的治疗手段的使用和有效性。抗病毒药物类别包括3CL蛋白抑制剂、RNA合成抑制剂以及其他针对SARS-CoV-2与宿主细胞相互作用能力的小分子药物。鉴于需要找到特定治疗方法以预防疫情爆发，本综述的目的是解释一些用于治疗其他病毒感染的重新利用的抗病毒药物如何可能成为治疗COVID-19的潜在候选药物。
