Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32492560›Full record

ArticleMedical hypotheses2020

Is the anti-filarial drug diethylcarbamazine useful to treat COVID-19?

Anuruddha Abeygunasekera, Saroj Jayasinghe

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Medical hypotheses, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact, top 98% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 0 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Review
  4. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Anuruddha AbeygunasekeraColombo South Teaching Hospital, Dehiwala 10350, Sri Lanka. Electronic address: amabey@sltnet.lk.
Saroj JayasingheFaculty of Medicine of University of Colombo, Kynsey Road, Colombo 00800, Sri Lanka. Electronic address: saroj@clinmed.cmb.ac.lk.
Colombo North Teaching Hospital · LKUniversity of Colombo · LK

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 virus has resulted in a devastating pandemic of COVID-19. Exploring compounds that could offer a breakthrough in treatment is the need of the hour. Re-positioning cheap, freely available and safe drugs is a priority. The paper proposes evidence for the potential use of diethylcarbamazine (DEC) in the treatment of COVID-19. DEC has inhibitory effects on arachidonic acid metabolism to prostaglandins, little known anti-viral effects on animal retroviruses and demonstrated anti-inflammatory actions in animal models of lung inflammation indicating the need to explore this hypothesis further. We believe this is the first time DEC is being proposed to treat COVID-19.

Indexed as

Anti-Inflammatory AgentsAntiviral AgentsArachidonic AcidBetacoronavirusCoronavirus InfectionsCOVID-19COVID-19 Drug TreatmentDiethylcarbamazineDrug RepositioningFilaricidesHumansInflammationLungPandemicsPneumonia, ViralProstaglandinsAnti-Inflammatory AgentsAntiviral AgentsArachidonic AcidDiethylcarbamazineFilaricidesProstaglandinsCoronaCOVID-19Diethyl carbamazine DECSARS-CoV-2

Identifiers

PMID32492560
PMCPMC7232076
OpenAlexW3016376714

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.