European journal of pharmacology
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The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has become a global health crisis. Considering the recent food and drug administration (FDA) approval of remdesivir as the first officially approved agent for COVID-19 treatment, we performed this systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy and safety of remdesivir administration in COVID-19 patients. A systematic literature search was done through MEDLINE, Google Scholar, Web of Science, Scopus, Science Direct, Cochrane Library, medRxiv, and bioRxiv from their inception to December 22nd, 2020. ⋯ The clinical output comparison of the 5-day and 10-day remdesivir courses revealed that the 5-day regimen might provide similar benefits while causing fewer serious ADRs than 10-day. The current meta-analysis provided an updated evaluation of scientific evidence on the use of remdesivir in COVID-19 patients. Performing adequate well-designed RCTs are needed to show more accurate results.
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The spread of the corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been intensifying in the past year, posing a huge threat to global health. There is an urgent need for effective drugs and vaccines to fight the COVID-19, but their advent may not be quite fast. Drug repurposing is a feasible strategy in the current situation, which could greatly shorten drug development time and help to response quickly to the novel virus outbreak. ⋯ Through the pseudovirus assay, we finally identified that doxepin could inhibit SARS-CoV-2 spike pseudovirus from entering the ACE2-expressing cell, reducing the infection rate to 25.82%. These preliminary results indicate that the histamine H1 receptor antagonist, doxepin, is a viable drug candidate for clinical trials. Therefore, we hope the work timely provides rational help for developing anti-SARS-CoV-2 drugs to control the rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2.
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Tissue injury results in the release of inflammatory mediators, including a cascade of nociceptive substances, which contribute to development of hyperalgesia. In addition, during this process endogenous analgesic substances are also peripherally released with the aim of controlling the hyperalgesia. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate whether inflammatory mediators TNF-α, IL-1β, CXCL1, norepinephrine (NE) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) may be involved in the deflagration of peripheral endogenous modulation of inflammatory pain by activation of the opioid system. ⋯ In contrast, when the enzyme N-aminopeptidase involved in the degradation of endogenous opioid peptides was inhibited by bestatin, the hyperalgesia was significantly reduced. In addition, the western blotting assay indicated that the expression of the opioid δ receptor was increased after intraplantar injection of carrageenan. The data obtained in this work corroborate the hypothesis that TNF-α, CXCL-1 and IL-β cause, in addition to hyperalgesia, the release of endogenous substances such as opioid peptides, which in turn exert endogenous control over peripheral inflammatory pain.