ArticleJournal of inflammation research2021
N-Acetylcysteine as Adjuvant Therapy for COVID-19 - A Perspective on the Current State of the Evidence.
Article in Journal of inflammation research, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
30 citing papers in PubMed, 64 citations in OpenAlex.
- Evaluation the efficacy and safety of N-acetylcysteine inhalation spray in controlling the symptoms of patients with COVID-19: An open-label randomized controlled clinical trial.Journal of medical virology · 2023Trial
- Therapeutic effect of N-acetylcysteine in severe or critical coronavirus disease 2019 pneumonia: A retrospective cohort study.The Journal of international medical research · 2026Article
- Development of an inhalable dry powder formulation for inhibition of SARS-CoV-2.International journal of pharmaceutics: X · 2025Article
- N-Acetylcysteine in the Treatment of Acute Lung Injury: Perspectives and Limitations.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- The Antimicrobial Activity of Combination of Vitamin D3 and Omega-3 against Pathogenic Microorganisms.Combinatorial chemistry & high throughput screening · 2025Article
- Glutathione and neurodegenerative diseases: immunopharmacological implications.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Review
- Neuropsychiatric Manifestations of COVID-19 Disease and Post COVID Syndrome: The Role of N-acetylcysteine and Acetyl-L-carnitine.Current neuropharmacology · 2025Review
- Identification of druggable host dependency factors shared by multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern.Journal of molecular cell biology · 2024Article
- Molecular Mechanisms of N-Acetylcysteine in RSV Infections and Air Pollution-Induced Alterations: A Scoping Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- Clinical efficacy of N-acetylcysteine for COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Heliyon · 2024Article
- Severity of oxidative stress as a hallmark in COVID-19 patients.European journal of medical research · 2023Article
- Pharmacogenomic Landscape of Ivermectin and Selective Antioxidants: Exploring Gene Interplay in the Context of Long COVID.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
- Antiviral foods in the battle against viral infections: Understanding the molecular mechanism.Food science & nutrition · 2023Review
- Strategies for the Management of Spike Protein-Related Pathology.Microorganisms · 2023Review
- Nutritional deficiencies that may predispose to long COVID.Inflammopharmacology · 2023Review
- Therapeutic role of N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) for the treatment and/or management of SARS-CoV-2-induced lung damage in hamster model.European journal of pharmacology · 2023Article
- Protective role of N-acetylcysteine and Sulodexide on endothelial cells exposed on patients' serum after SARS-CoV-2 infection.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2023Article
- N-acetylcysteine as adjuvant therapy for hospitalized Covid-19 patients: A single-center prospective cohort study.Caspian journal of internal medicine · 2023Article
- N-acetylcysteine for prevention and treatment of COVID-19: Current state of evidence and future directions.Journal of infection and public health · 2022Review
- Introduction to Traditional Medicine and Their Role in Prevention and Treatment of Emerging and Re-Emerging Diseases.Biomolecules · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The looming severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused a long-lasting pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) around the globe with substantial morbidity and mortality. N-acetylcysteine, being a nutraceutical precursor of an important antioxidant glutathione, can perform several biological functions in mammals and microbes. It has consequently garnered a growing interest as a potential adjunctive therapy for coronavirus disease. Here, we review evidence concerning the effects of N-acetylcysteine in respiratory viral infections based on currently available in vitro, in vivo, and human clinical investigations. The repurposing of a known drug such as N-acetylcysteine may significantly hasten the deployment of a novel approach for COVID-19. Since the drug candidate has already been translated into the clinic for several decades, its established pharmacological properties and safety and side-effect profiles expedite preclinical and clinical assessment for the treatment of COVID-19. In vitro data have depicted that N-acetylcysteine increases antioxidant capacity, interferes with virus replication, and suppresses expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines in cells infected with influenza viruses or respiratory syncytial virus. Furthermore, findings from in vivo studies have displayed that, by virtue of immune modulation and anti-inflammatory mechanism, N-acetylcysteine reduces the mortality rate in influenza-infected mice animal models. The promising in vitro and in vivo results have prompted the initiation of human subject research for the treatment of COVID-19, including severe pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome. Albeit some evidence of benefits has been observed in clinical outcomes of patients, precision nanoparticle design of N-acetylcysteine may allow for greater therapeutic efficacy.
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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.