Therapeutic Application of Chloroquine in Clinical Trials for COVID-19

BackgroundThe novel corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been causing a massive global public health havoc. Use of quinolones for treatment of COVID-19 was a matter of huge discussion in scientific community. Falsified data about efficacy of the drug against COVID-19 disseminated. This review was designed to study the dosages of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine planned to be administered in clinical trials registered up to March 2020. SummaryInclusion of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 treatment in Chinese national treatment guideline in the early days of the pandemic prompted numerous clinical trials in many countries to authenticate the efficacy of the drugs. Trials were designed to include chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine singly or in combination with other drugs. Almost all of the trials planned oral administration except few which used aerosol inhalation. In the later half of 2020, systematic reviews and results of those clinical trials point out the inefficacies and inadvertent adverse events due to the use of these quinolone drugs for COVID-19. ConclusionThis study reviews the various dosages of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine utilized in published and under-study clinical trials as assessed during the end of March 2020. Specifically, clinical trials registered in Chinese and US trial registries were examined.