Amantadine Might be Used as a Drug for SARS-Cov-2 Treatment?

Title:Amantadine Might be Used as a Drug for SARS-Cov-2 Treatment?

Volume: 2 Issue: 1

Author(s): Zeynep Gunes Ozunal and Sevki Sahin*

Affiliation:

• Neurology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Maltepe University, Istanbul,Turkey

Keywords: Amantadine, pharmacology, neurology, SARS-CoV-2, drug repositioning, COVID-19.

Abstract: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection, the pandemics, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has no known effective radical pharmacotherapy and just supportive approach at present. Amantadine is a drug used in Parkinson’s disease and other parkinsonisms; and is known to increase indirectly dopamine by antagonistic effects at the N-methyl-Daspartate (NMDA) receptor by increasing the release and blocking the reuptake of dopamine. Initially, amantadine was approved as an antiviral drug. We hypothesize that if amantadine is considered its antiviral, immunological and neurostimulant effects might be useful in the supportive treatment of SARSCoV- 2 cases, especially those who developed acute respiratory failure with decreased vigilance and are being monitored in the intensive care unit. Further phase III clinical trials are needed.

Cite this article as:

Ozunal Gunes Zeynep and Sahin Sevki *, Amantadine Might be Used as a Drug for SARS-Cov-2 Treatment?, Coronaviruses 2021; 2 (1) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/2666796701999200713192912