SynthesisFundamental & clinical pharmacology2021
A systematic review of experimental evidence for antiviral effects of ivermectin and an in silico analysis of ivermectin's possible mode of action against SARS-CoV-2.
Synthesis in Fundamental & clinical pharmacology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
22 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 43 citations in OpenAlex.
- Systematic review and meta-analysis of ivermectin for treatment of COVID-19: evidence beyond the hype.BMC infectious diseases · 2022Pooled it
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- Article
- Identification of SARS-CoV-2 3CLpro inhibitors from marine actinomycetes through integrated phylogeny-based metabolomics with functional screening and bioinformatic analysis.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Enhancing Intracellular Uptake of Ivermectin through Liposomal Encapsulation.AAPS PharmSciTech · 2025Article
- Antiviral Chemotherapy in Avian Medicine-A Review.Viruses · 2024Review
- Binding behavior of receptor binding domain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and ivermectin.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Effectiveness of Drug Repurposing and Natural Products Against SARS-CoV-2: A Comprehensive Review.Clinical pharmacology : advances and applications · 2024Review
- Patch-clamp studies and cell viability assays suggest a distinct site for viroporin inhibitors on the E protein of SARS-CoV-2.Virology journal · 2023Article
- Identifying the Toxidrome of Ivermectin Toxicity.Cureus · 2023Article
- Recombinant Bacillus Calmette-Guérin Expressing SARS-CoV-2 Chimeric Protein Protects K18-hACE2 Mice against Viral Challenge.Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950) · 2023Article
- Cheminformatics-Based Study Identifies Potential Ebola VP40 Inhibitors.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
- Article
- Review
- Microbiome-Based Hypothesis on Ivermectin's Mechanism in COVID-19: Ivermectin Feeds Bifidobacteria to Boost Immunity.Frontiers in microbiology · 2022Article
- COVID-19 and Ivermectin: Potential threats associated with human use.Journal of molecular structure · 2021Article
- A hitchhiker's guide through the COVID-19 galaxy.Clinical immunology (Orlando, Fla.) · 2021Review
- Comparative study of the interaction of ivermectin with proteins of interest associated with SARS-CoV-2: A computational and biophysical approach.Biophysical chemistry · 2021Article
- Editorial: Emerging and Re-emerging Vector-borne and Zoonotic Diseases.Frontiers in medicine · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Viral infections remain a major cause of economic loss with an unmet need for novel therapeutic agents. Ivermectin is a putative antiviral compound; the proposed mechanism is the inhibition of nuclear translocation of viral proteins, facilitated by mammalian host importins, a necessary process for propagation of infections. We systematically reviewed the evidence for the applicability of ivermectin against viral infections including SARS-CoV-2 regarding efficacy, mechanisms and selective toxicity. The SARS-CoV-2 genome was mined to determine potential nuclear location signals for ivermectin and meta-analyses for in vivo studies included all comparators over time, dose range and viral replication in multiple organs. Ivermectin inhibited the replication of many viruses including those in Flaviviridae, Circoviridae and Coronaviridae families in vitro. Real and mock nuclear location signals were identified in SARS-CoV-2, a potential target for ivermectin and predicting a sequestration bait for importin β, stopping infected cells from reaching a virus-resistant state. While pharmacokinetic evaluations indicate that ivermectin could be toxic if applied based on in vitro studies, inhibition of viral replication in vivo was shown for Porcine circovirus in piglets and Suid herpesvirus in mice. Overall standardized mean differences and 95% confidence intervals for ivermectin versus controls were -4.43 (-5.81, -3.04), p < 0.00001. Based on current results, the potential for repurposing ivermectin as an antiviral agent is promising. However, further work is needed to reconcile in vitro studies with clinical efficacy. Developing ivermectin as an additional antiviral agent should be pursued with an emphasis on pre-clinical trials in validated models of infection.
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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.