Ivermectin, antiviral properties and COVID-19: a possible new mechanism of action

Emanuele Rizzo

doi:10.1007/s00210-020-01902-5

Ivermectin, antiviral properties and COVID-19: a possible new mechanism of action

Naunyn Schmiedebergs Arch Pharmacol. 2020 Jul;393(7):1153-1156. doi: 10.1007/s00210-020-01902-5. Epub 2020 May 27.

Author

Emanuele Rizzo^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Prevention, Local Health Authority of Lecce (ASL Lecce), Lecce, Italy. emanuele.rizzo@email.com.
² Italian Society of Environmental Medicine (SIMA), Milan, Italy. emanuele.rizzo@email.com.

Abstract

Ivermectin is an antiparasitic drug that has shown also an effective pharmacological activity towards various infective agents, including viruses. This paper proposes an alternative mechanism of action for this drug that makes it capable of having an antiviral action, also against the novel coronavirus, in addition to the processes already reported in literature.

Keywords: Antiviral; COVID-19; Ionophore; Ivermectin; SARS-CoV-2.

MeSH terms

Antiviral Agents / administration & dosage
Antiviral Agents / pharmacology*
Betacoronavirus / drug effects
Betacoronavirus / isolation & purification
COVID-19
COVID-19 Drug Treatment
Coronavirus Infections / drug therapy*
Coronavirus Infections / virology
Humans
Ivermectin / administration & dosage
Ivermectin / pharmacology*
Pandemics
Pneumonia, Viral / drug therapy*
Pneumonia, Viral / virology
SARS-CoV-2

Substances

Antiviral Agents
Ivermectin