ArticleJournal of bio-X research2021
Clinical efficacy of low-dose emetine for patients with COVID-19: a real-world study.
Article in Journal of bio-X research, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- Drug treatments for mild or moderate covid-19: systematic review and network meta-analysis.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2025Pooled it
- Comparative effectiveness of pharmacological interventions on mortality and the average length of hospital stay of patients with COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Expert review of anti-infective therapy · 2022Pooled it
- Emetine and Its Derivatives as Anticancer Agents Targeting the PI3K/AKT/mTOR Pathway: A Narrative Review of Mechanisms, Pharmacology, and Clinical Insights.Journal of cellular and molecular medicine · 2026Review
- Some natural compounds and their analogues having potent anti- SARS-CoV-2 and anti-proteases activities as lead molecules in drug discovery for COVID-19.European journal of medicinal chemistry reports · 2022Review
- Overview of Antiviral Drug Therapy for COVID-19: Where Do We Stand?Biomedicines · 2022Review
- Application of emetine in SARS-CoV-2 treatment: regulation of p38 MAPK signaling pathway for preventing emetine-induced cardiac complications.Cell cycle (Georgetown, Tex.) · 2022Article
- The naturally-derived alkaloids as a potential treatment for COVID-19: A scoping review.Phytotherapy research : PTR · 2022Article
- Different Aspects of Emetine's Capabilities as a Highly Potent SARS-CoV-2 Inhibitor against COVID-19.ACS pharmacology & translational science · 2022Review
- Discovering common pathogenetic processes between COVID-19 and sepsis by bioinformatics and system biology approach.Frontiers in immunology · 2022Article
- Phytochemicals for the treatment of COVID-19.Journal of microbiology (Seoul, Korea) · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
37 authors at 11 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveEmetine, an isoquinoline alkaloid that is enriched at high concentrations in the lung, has shown potent in vitro activity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The aim of this study was to better understand the effectiveness of low-dose emetine for patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
methodsIn this real-world study, 63 patients with mild or common COVID-19 were recruited from Wuhan Fangcang Shelter Hospital and five COVID-19-designated hospitals in Anhui Province, China from February to March 2020. Thirty-nine patients from Wuhan Fangcang Shelter Hospital were assigned to a pragmatic randomized controlled clinical trial, and 24 patients from the 5 COVID-19-designated hospitals in Anhui Province underwent a real-world study. The medication course of emetine was less than 10 days. The main symptoms and adverse reactions of all patients were observed and recorded. The primary outcome measure was the time required for a negative SARS-CoV-2 RNA result or the negative result rate on day 10. Secondary outcomes included axillary temperature, transcutaneous oxygen saturation, and respiratory frequency recovery. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University on February 20, 2019 (approval No. PJ2020-03-19) and was registered with the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry on February 20, 2019 (registration number: ChiCTR2000030022).
resultsThe oxygen saturation values were higher in the treatment group than in the control group on the first day after enrollment for patients treated at Fangcang Shelter Hospital. The axillary body temperature, respiratory rate, and oxygen saturation among patients in Fangcang Shelter Hospital were related to the time effect but not to the intervention measures. The respiratory rate and oxygen saturation of patients in the Anhui designated hospitals were related to the intervention measures but not to the time effect. The axillary body temperature of patients in Anhui designated hospitals was related to the time effect but not to the intervention measures.
conclusionOur preliminary study shows that low-dose emetine combined with basic conventional antiviral drugs improves clinical symptoms in patients with mild and common COVID-19 without apparent adverse effects, suggesting that moderately increased doses of emetine may have good potential for treatment and prevention of COVID-19.
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