1. Short-term celecoxib (celebrex) adjuvant therapy: a clinical trial study on COVID-19 patients.
- Author
-
Ghaznavi H, Mohammadghasemipour Z, Shirvaliloo M, Momeni MK, Metanat M, Gorgani F, Abedipour F, Mohammadi M, Sartipi M, Khorashad ARS, Shahraki O, Ataee M, Sheervalilou R, and Sargazi S
- Subjects
- Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal adverse effects, Celecoxib therapeutic use, Cyclooxygenase 2, Dinoprostone, Humans, Pyrazoles adverse effects, SARS-CoV-2, Sulfonamides pharmacology, Sulfonamides therapeutic use, Cyclooxygenase 2 Inhibitors pharmacology, Cyclooxygenase 2 Inhibitors therapeutic use, COVID-19 Drug Treatment
- Abstract
Background: It is known that severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the viral strain responsible for the recent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Current documents have demonstrated that the virus causes a PGE2 storm in a substantial proportion of patients via upregulating cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and downregulating prostaglandin E2 (PGE2)-degrading enzymes within the host cell., Aim: Herein, we aimed to study how short-term treatment with celecoxib (Celebrex), a selective COX-2 inhibitor, affects demographic features, early symptoms, O
2 saturation, and hematological indices of cases with COVID-19., Methods: A total of 67 confirmed COVID-19 cases with a mild or moderate disease, who had been referred to an institutional hospital in south-eastern Iran from October 2020 to September 2021, were enrolled. Demographic characteristics, symptoms, and hematological indices of the patients were recorded within different time periods. One-way ANOVA or Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to determine differences between data sets based on normal data distribution., Results: O2 saturation was statistically different between the control group and patients receiving celecoxib (p = 0.039). There was no marked difference between the groups in terms of the symptoms they experienced (p > 0.05). On the first days following Celebrex therapy, analysis of complete blood counts showed that white blood cell (WBC) counts were markedly lower in patients treated with a high dose of celecoxib (0.4 g/day) than in controls (p = 0.026). However, mean lymphocyte levels in patients receiving a high dose of celecoxib (0.4 g/day) were markedly higher than in patients receiving celecoxib with half of the dose (0.2 g/day) for one week or the untreated subjects (p = 0.004). Changes in platelet count also followed the WBC alteration pattern., Conclusion: Celecoxib is a relatively safe, inexpensive, and widely available drug with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory properties. The therapeutic efficacy of celecoxib depends on the administrated dose. Celecoxib might improve disease-free survival in patients with COVID-19., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
- View/download PDF