Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32639233›Full record

ArticleeLife2020

Concentration-dependent mortality of chloroquine in overdose.

James A Watson, Joel Tarning, Richard M Hoglund, Frederic J Baud, Bruno Megarbane, Jean-Luc Clemessy, Nicholas J White

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in eLife, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
20citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.6field-weighted citation impact, top 20% 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

20 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 32 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Tafenoquine: a toxicity overview.Expert opinion on drug safety · 2021
    Pooled it
  2. Trial
  3. Trial
  4. Trial
  5. Article
  6. Influence of CYP2C8 Polymorphism on the Exposure to Chloroquine in Patients with Malaria byInternational journal of environmental research and public health · 2025
    Article
  7. Article
  8. Review
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Review
  13. Socially optimal pandemic drug dosing.The Lancet. Global health · 2021
    Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Review
  17. Effect of hydroxychloroquine with or without azithromycin on the mortality of COVID-19 patients: authors' response.Clinical microbiology and infection : the official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases · 2021
    Article
  18. Article
  19. COVID-19: An Update About the Discovery Clinical Trial.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020
    Article
  20. Article
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

7 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.

James A WatsonMahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.ORCID 0000-0001-5524-0325
Joel TarningMahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.ORCID 0000-0003-4566-4030
Richard M HoglundMahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.
Frederic J BaudAssistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris, Paris, France.
Bruno MegarbaneUniversité de Paris, INSERM UMRS-11 44, Paris, France.
Jean-Luc ClemessyAssistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris, Paris, France.
Nicholas J WhiteMahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.ORCID 0000-0002-1897-1978
Mahidol University · THInserm · FRUniversité Paris Cité · FRUniversity of Oxford · GB

Funding

Wellcome TrustWellcome Trust Principal Research Fellowship 093956/Z/10/C
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine are used extensively in malaria and rheumatological conditions, and now in COVID-19 prevention and treatment. Although generally safe they are potentially lethal in overdose. In-vitro data suggest that high concentrations and thus high doses are needed for COVID-19 infections, but as yet there is no convincing evidence of clinical efficacy. Bayesian regression models were fitted to survival outcomes and electrocardiograph QRS durations from 302 prospectively studied French patients who had taken intentional chloroquine overdoses, of whom 33 died (11%), and 16 healthy volunteers who took 620 mg base chloroquine single doses. Whole blood concentrations of 13.5 µmol/L (95% credible interval 10.1-17.7) were associated with 1% mortality. Prolongation of ventricular depolarization is concentration-dependent with a QRS duration >150 msec independently highly predictive of mortality in chloroquine self-poisoning. Pharmacokinetic modeling predicts that most high dose regimens trialled in COVID-19 are unlikely to cause serious cardiovascular toxicity.

Indexed as

SuicideSuicide, AttemptedAdultAntimalarialsBiotransformationChloroquineCoronavirus InfectionsCOVID-19COVID-19 Drug TreatmentDose-Response Relationship, DrugDrug OverdoseDrug RepositioningElectrocardiographyFemaleHeart DiseasesHumansAntimalarialsChloroquinedesethylchloroquineHydroxychloroquinebayesianchloroquinehumanhuman biologymedicineoverdosepharmacodynamicspharmacokinetics

Identifiers

PMID32639233
PMCPMC7417172
OpenAlexW3041956007

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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.