ArticleMedical hypotheses2020
Pirfenidone: A novel hypothetical treatment for COVID-19.
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 49 papers.
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
49 citing papers in PubMed, 98 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pirfenidone in post-COVID-19 pulmonary fibrosis (FIBRO-COVID): a phase 2 randomised clinical trial.The European respiratory journal · 2025Trial
- PANoptosis as a Therapeutic Target for COVID-19.Current microbiology · 2026Review
- Pathways in the brain, heart and lung influenced by SARS-CoV-2 NSP6 and SARS-CoV-2 regulated miRNAs: an in silico study hinting cancer incidence.Cardio-oncology (London, England) · 2025Article
- Pharmacological Immunomodulation via Collagen-Polyvinylpyrrolidone or Pirfenidone Plays a Role in the Recovery of Patients with Severe COVID-19 Through Similar Mechanisms of Action Involving the JAK/STAT Signalling Pathway: A Pilot Study.Advances in respiratory medicine · 2025Article
- New analogs of 5-substituted-2(1Acta biochimica Polonica · 2025Article
- A graph neural network-based approach for predicting SARS-CoV-2-human protein interactions from multiview data.PloS one · 2025Article
- Clinical impact of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis on SARS-CoV-2 patient outcomes: a comprehensive analysis in the pre-vaccination era.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Article
- Evaluation of Potential Furin Protease Inhibitory Properties of Pioglitazone, Rosiglitazone, and Pirfenidone: An In Silico Docking and Molecular Dynamics Simulation Approach.Current issues in molecular biology · 2024Article
- Revolutionizing the Treatment of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis: From Conventional Therapies to Advanced Drug Delivery Systems.AAPS PharmSciTech · 2024Review
- Cinnamic acid mitigates methotrexate-induced lung fibrosis in rats: comparative study with pirfenidone.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2024Article
- Perspectives on Post-COVID-19 Pulmonary Fibrosis Treatment.Journal of personalized medicine · 2023Review
- Treatment with sivelestat sodium of acute respiratory distress syndrome induced by chemical pneumonitis: A report of three cases.Experimental and therapeutic medicine · 2023Article
- Successful nintedanib desensitization: Due to two cases.Tuberkuloz ve toraks · 2023Article
- Hyaluronan in the pathogenesis of acute and post-acute COVID-19 infection.Matrix biology : journal of the International Society for Matrix Biology · 2023Review
- Pharmacological approaches to pulmonary fibrosis following COVID-19.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2023Review
- Inhibition of urethral stricture by a catheter loaded with nanoparticle/ pirfenidone complexes.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2023Article
- Cardiovascular, Pulmonary, and Neuropsychiatric Short- and Long-Term Complications of COVID-19.Cells · 2022Review
- Pirfenidone and post-Covid-19 pulmonary fibrosis: invoked again for realistic goals.Inflammopharmacology · 2022Review
- Effect of Pirfenidone on Risk of Pulmonary Fibrosis in COVID-19 Patients Experiencing Cytokine Storm.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Cytokine storm, multiorgan failure, and particularly acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is the leading cause of mortality and morbidity in patients with COVID-19. A fulminant ARDS kills the majority of COVID-19 victims. Pirfenidone (5-methyl-1-phenyl-2-[1H]-pyridone), is a novel anti-fibrotic agent with trivial adverse effects. Pirfenidone is approved for the treatment of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) for patients with mild to moderate disease. Pirfenidone could inhibit apoptosis, downregulate ACE receptors expression, decrease inflammation by several mechanisms and ameliorate oxidative stress and hence protect pneumocytes and other cells from COVID-19 invasion and cytokine storm simultaneously. Based on the pirfenidone mechanism of action and the known pathophysiology of COVID-19, I believe that pirfenidone has the potential for the treatment of COVID-19 patients.
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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.