ArticleBiochemical and biophysical research communications2021
Identification of antiviral antihistamines for COVID-19 repurposing.
Article in Biochemical and biophysical research communications, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06008860 (A Pilot Clinical Evaluation of Astepro® Nasal Spray for Management of Early SARS-CoV-2 Infection), which is not on this map. Cited by 56 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
A Pilot Clinical Evaluation of Astepro® Nasal Spray for Management of Early SARS-CoV-2 Infection
Who cites it
56 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 113 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Association between Allergic Rhinitis and COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of clinical practice · 2022Pooled it
- Azelastine Nasal Spray for Prevention of SARS-CoV-2 Infections: A Phase 2 Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA internal medicine · 2025Trial
- Trial
- Early intervention with azelastine nasal spray may reduce viral load in SARS-CoV-2 infected patients.Scientific reports · 2023Trial
- Large-scale integration of omics and electronic health records to identify potential risk protein biomarkers and therapeutic drugs for cancer prevention.American journal of human genetics · 2026Article
- Article
- Hybrid Molecules as Efficient Drugs against Multidrug-Resistant Malaria Parasites.ChemMedChem · 2025Review
- Article
- COVID-19 in Relation to Chronic Antihistamine Prescription.Microorganisms · 2024Article
- Article
- Article
- Molecular docking as a tool for the discovery of novel insight about the role of acid sphingomyelinase inhibitors in SARS- CoV-2 infectivity.BMC public health · 2024Review
- Cough symptoms in children following COVID-19: a single-center retrospective study.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2024Article
- Sigma Receptor Ligands Prevent COVID Mortality In Vivo: Implications for Future Therapeutics.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
- Predictive models of long COVID.EBioMedicine · 2023Article
- The relevance of acid sphingomyelinase as a potential target for therapeutic intervention in hepatic disorders: current scenario and anticipated trends.Archives of toxicology · 2023Review
- Broad-Spectrum, Potent, and Durable Ceria Nanoparticles Inactivate RNA Virus Infectivity by Targeting Virion Surfaces and Disrupting Virus-Receptor Interactions.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Protein structure-based in-silico approaches to drug discovery: Guide to COVID-19 therapeutics.Molecular aspects of medicine · 2023Review
- Strategies for the Management of Spike Protein-Related Pathology.Microorganisms · 2023Review
- A Case Study of Successful Application of the Principles of ME/CFS Care to an Individual with Long COVID.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
There is an urgent need to identify therapies that prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection and improve the outcome of COVID-19 patients. Although repurposed drugs with favorable safety profiles could have significant benefit, widely available prevention or treatment options for COVID-19 have yet to be identified. Efforts to identify approved drugs with in vitro activity against SARS-CoV-2 resulted in identification of antiviral sigma-1 receptor ligands, including antihistamines in the histamine-1 receptor binding class. We identified antihistamine candidates for repurposing by mining electronic health records of usage in population of more than 219,000 subjects tested for SARS-CoV-2. Usage of diphenhydramine, hydroxyzine and azelastine was associated with reduced incidence of SARS-CoV-2 positivity in subjects greater than age 61. We found diphenhydramine, hydroxyzine and azelastine to exhibit direct antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2 in vitro. Although mechanisms by which specific antihistamines exert antiviral effects is not clear, hydroxyzine, and possibly azelastine, bind Angiotensin Converting Enzyme-2 (ACE2) and the sigma-1 receptor as off-targets. Clinical studies are needed to measure the effectiveness of diphenhydramine, hydroxyzine and azelastine for disease prevention, for early intervention, or as adjuvant therapy for severe COVID-19.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.