Chloroquine emerging as coronavirus cure

OHIO: Could a pair of decades-old, relatively inexpensive drugs be the solution to the coronavirus pandemic?

Around the world, countries are expanding access to hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and chloroquine (CQ), related compounds that are synthetic forms of quinine, which comes from cinchona trees and has been used for centuries to treat malaria.

HQ, which is the less toxic of the two, is also used as an anti-inflammatory to treat conditions like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, purposes it is primarily known for outside the tropics.

The medicines have shown early promise against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) illness in early studies in France and China, which led United States President Donald Trump this week to call them a “gift from God” — even as experts urge caution until bigger trials validate their effectiveness.

Here is what you need to know. China used CQ on a trial of 134 patients in February, finding it was effective in reducing the severity of the illness, according to officials.

But these results haven’t yet been published. Chinese respiratory expert Zhong Nanshan, who leads a government task force in response to the epidemic, said in a press conference last week that the data would be widely shared soon.

In France, a team led by Didier Raoult of the IHU-Mediterranee Infection, Marseille reported last week they had carried out a study on 36 Covid-19 patients, finding that HCQ drastically reduced the viral load in a group which received the drug.

The effects were especially pronounced when it was used with azithromycin, a common antibiotic used to sweep out secondary bacterial infections.

What’s more, HCQ and CQ drugs have been proven to act against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in lab settings, and a paper published by a Chinese team last week in Cell Discovery offered a potential mode of action.

Karine Le Roch, a professor of cell biology at the University of California, Riverside, explained that both HCQ and CQ were weak bases that elevate the pH of parts of human cells called organelles — which are analogous to organs in animals — and which are normally acidic.

This, in turn, interferes with the virus’ ability to enter the cells — and also seems to block them from replicating once they are already inside.