A Randomized Clinical Trial of the Efficacy and Safety of Interferon β-1a in Treatment of Severe COVID-19
Effat Davoudi-Monfared, Hamid Rahmani, Hossein Khalili, Mahboubeh Hajiabdolbaghi, Mohamadreza Salehi, Ladan Abbasian, Hossein Kazemzadeh, Mir Saeed Yekaninejad
Abstract
To the best of our knowledge, there is no published study on the use of interferon β-1a (IFN β-1a) in the treatment of severe COVID-19. In this randomized clinical trial, the efficacy and safety of IFN β-1a were evaluated in patients with severe COVID-19. Forty-two patients in the interferon group received IFN β-1a in addition to the national protocol medications (hydroxychloroquine plus lopinavir-ritonavir or atazanavir-ritonavir). Each 44-μg/ml (12 million IU/ml) dose of interferon β-1a was subcutaneously injected three times weekly for two consecutive weeks.
Topics & Concepts
LopinavirRitonavirAtazanavirMedicineLopinavir/ritonavirHydroxychloroquineRandomized controlled trialInterferonCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)Internal medicineClinical trialPharmacologyVirologyGastroenterologyHuman immunodeficiency virus (HIV)Viral loadInfectious disease (medical specialty)DiseaseAntiretroviral therapyCOVID-19 Clinical Research StudiesSARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Researchinterferon and immune responses