Repurposing Donepezil to Treat COVID-19: A Call for Retrospective Analysis of Existing Patient Datasets

Journal Title: Journal of Clinical Immunology & Microbiology - Year 2021, Vol 2, Issue 3

Abstract

We hypothesize that patients treated with donepezil will show decreased risk of death following COVID-19 infection. The acetylcholinesterase antagonist donepezil is widely prescribed for early-stage Alzheimer’s disease. Clinical studies show donepezil treatment decreases risk of death from pneumonia and myocardial infarct, improves vascular function and inhibits risk of stroke. Preclinical studies indicate donepezil itself or increased acetylcholine more generally protect from fatal Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), sepsis, cytokine storm, cardiovascular damage, Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation (DIC) and acute kidney damage. Donepezil is also an agonist of the anti-viral sigma-1 receptor. In the United States, there have been over 600,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection and over 170,000 deaths associated with nursing home outbreaks. Rather than run a new clinical trial, our hypothesis can be tested through retrospective analysis of data obtained from nursing home or hospital databases collected at the county, state, or federal level. We believe retrospective analysis of this data will show donepezil treatment shortens hospital stay decreases overall risk of hospitalization and death. The data could be rapidly translated into clinical practice to prevent COVID-19 fatalities in the most vulnerable patient populations.

Authors and Affiliations

Meena M Murali, Joy A Phillips*

Keywords

Related Articles

Limited Temporary Effect of Several Social Relaxation Events on the COVID-19 Series: An Analysis Based on Primary Data

The relaxation of restrictive measures imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic allowed a gradual resumption of human activities, although the influence of each measure on the COVID-19 series is not consensual. We analyzed the...

How Fungus Can Debilitate Your Immune System?

Little is known about the precise mechanism involved in immunity to fungal infections. Researchers discovered that fungal prostaglandins, deactivate immune cells, preventing them from destroying the infection. Fungi ar...

Finding the Causes of the Concretion Between Asthma and Urticaria: A Narrative Review

In recent years, asthma and urticaria have become more common globally, imposing a significant economic and health burden on communities everywhere. Th2 cells, mast cells, eosinophil and M2 macrophages are all part of ty...

Hepatitis C Virus E1 Protein Enhances Macrophage iNOS Expression In-vitro

Interferon-γ (IFN-γ) is a key cytokine in the adaptive immune response that is primarily secreted from CD4+ T helper cells to induce Cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) cell response against HCV infection. IFN-γ activates macro...

Repurposing Donepezil to Treat COVID-19: A Call for Retrospective Analysis of Existing Patient Datasets

We hypothesize that patients treated with donepezil will show decreased risk of death following COVID-19 infection. The acetylcholinesterase antagonist donepezil is widely prescribed for early-stage Alzheimer’s disease...

Download PDF file
  • EP ID EP699109
  • DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.46889/JCIM.2021.2305
  • Views 104
  • Downloads 0

How To Cite

Meena M Murali, Joy A Phillips* (2021). Repurposing Donepezil to Treat COVID-19: A Call for Retrospective Analysis of Existing Patient Datasets. Journal of Clinical Immunology & Microbiology, 2(3), -. https://europub.co.uk/articles/-A-699109