ReviewAmerican journal of physiology. Lung cellular and molecular physiology2020
Heparin as a therapy for COVID-19: current evidence and future possibilities.
Review in American journal of physiology. Lung cellular and molecular physiology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 107 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
107 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 211 citations in OpenAlex.
- A systematic review of thromboembolic complications and outcomes in hospitalised COVID-19 patients.BMC infectious diseases · 2024Pooled it
- Prophylactic anticoagulants for non-hospitalised people with COVID-19.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- The effect of previous oral anticoagulant use on clinical outcomes in COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis.The American journal of emergency medicine · 2022Pooled it
- The Use of Therapeutic-Dose Anticoagulation and Its Effect on Mortality in Patients With COVID-19: A Systematic Review.Clinical and applied thrombosis/hemostasis : official journal of the International Academy of Clinical and Applied Thrombosis/HemostasisPooled it
- Thromboprophylaxis in Hospitalized Non-Critically Ill Patients With Mild-to-Moderate COVID-19 Infection: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Clinical and applied thrombosis/hemostasis : official journal of the International Academy of Clinical and Applied Thrombosis/HemostasisPooled it
- Therapeutic Anticoagulation with Heparin in Critically Ill Patients with Covid-19.The New England journal of medicine · 2021Trial
- An Overview of Anticoagulant Drugs Pharmacology, Therapeutic Approaches, Limitations and Perspectives.Pharmaceutics · 2026Review
- Broad-Spectrum Antiviral Styrene Maleic-Acid Copolymer Lipid Particle Nanodiscs for pH-Responsive Irreversible Virus Inactivation.Biomacromolecules · 2025Article
- The Role of Long-Range Non-Specific Electrostatic Interactions in Inhibiting the Pre-Fusion Proteolytic Processing of the SARS-CoV-2 S Glycoprotein by Heparin.Biomolecules · 2025Article
- Repurposing Drugs for Infectious Diseases by Graph Convolutional Network with Sensitivity-Based Graph Reduction.Interdisciplinary sciences, computational life sciences · 2025Article
- Can nebulised heparin reduce acute lung injury in patients with SARS‑CoV‑2 requiring advanced respiratory support in Ireland: the CHARTER‑Ireland phase Ib/IIa, randomised, parallel-group, open-label study.Intensive care medicine experimental · 2025Article
- COVID-19: a vascular nightmare unfolding.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Review
- Cellular Mechanisms of Lung Injury: Current Perspectives.Clinics in chest medicine · 2024Review
- Multifaceted Heparin: Diverse Applications beyond Anticoagulant Therapy.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Mutual Inhibition of Antithrombin III and SARS-CoV-2 Cellular Attachment to Syndecans: Implications for COVID-19 Treatment and Vaccination.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- Promising Drug Fondaparinux for the Treatment of COVID-19: an In Silico Analysis of Low Molecular Weight Heparin, Direct Oral Anticoagulant, and Antiplatelet Drug Interactions with Host Protease Furin.Cardiovascular drugs and therapy · 2024Article
- The Translational Value of Rodent Models of Sepsis.American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine · 2024Article
- Sulfated liposome-based artificial cell membrane glycocalyx nanodecoys for coronavirus inactivation by membrane fusion.Bioactive materials · 2024Article
- The Inhibition of Serine Proteases by Serpins Is Augmented by Negatively Charged Heparin: A Concise Review of Some Clinically Relevant Interactions.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Control of tissue homeostasis by the extracellular matrix: Synthetic heparan sulfate as a promising therapeutic for periodontal health and bone regeneration.Periodontology 2000 · 2024Review
47 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the clinical syndrome associated with infection by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has impacted nearly every country in the world. Despite an unprecedented focus of scientific investigation, there is a paucity of evidence-based pharmacotherapies against this disease. Because of this lack of data-driven treatment strategies, broad variations in practice patterns have emerged. Observed hypercoagulability in patients with COVID-19 has created debate within the critical care community on the therapeutic utility of heparin. We seek to provide an overview of the data supporting the therapeutic use of heparin, both unfractionated and low molecular weight, as an anticoagulant for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Additionally, we review preclinical evidence establishing biological plausibility for heparin and synthetic heparin-like drugs as therapies for COVID-19 through antiviral and anti-inflammatory effects. Finally, we discuss known adverse effects and theoretical off-target effects that may temper enthusiasm for the adoption of heparin as a therapy in COVID-19 without confirmatory prospective randomized controlled trials. Despite previous failures of anticoagulants in critical illness, plausibility of heparin for COVID-19 is sufficiently robust to justify urgent randomized controlled trials to determine the safety and effectiveness of this therapy.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.