The Chloroquine Mystery

Chloroquine against malaria, cancers and viral diseases

“…QTc prolongation and torsade de pointes (TdP) can occur in patients after both short-term and high-dose administration of CQ and, thus, drug–drug interactions (DDI) with other QTc-prolonging drugs is a cause for concern [9] . Therefore, regular 6-month ophthalmological follow-up examinations, cardiac monitoring, complete blood counts, and blood glucose level tests are advised for patients taking either CQ or HCQ [10] .…”

Effect of chloroquine and some other antimalarials on the immune mechanism in experimental animals

“…Suppression of humoral antibody formation by chloroquine could be a specific effect since there was no significant change in the total serum protein level between the control group (7.1 k 0.36; n = 35) and the test group (6.0 f 0.70; n = 21) which was also observed with lower doses of chloroquine (1-20 mg kg-1 s.c.). Knox & Owens (1966) reported that the beneficial effect of chloroquine in the treatment of collagen disorders might involve serum IgM level; hence, the next group of experiments conducted were to determine whether chloroquine has any specific effect on serum IgM level and the plaque forming cells in the spleen of mice which synthesize IgM type of antibodies. It was observed that the number of plaque-forming cells was significantly reduced from 104.87 f 14.6 in control group to 24.43 f 10.4 in the chloroquine treated group (P < 0.01); there was also a simultaneous reduction of serum IgM levels in these mice.…”

Recent Updates in Experimental Research and Clinical Evaluation on Drugs for COVID-19 Treatment

“…Hence, before CQ and HCQ treatment, an initial cardiac evaluation is necessary for COVID-19 patients ( Zhou W. et al, 2020 ). Also, several follow-up evaluations, such as regular ophthalmological examination and cardiac monitor, are suggested for patients with short- or long-term treatment ( Knox and Owens, 1966 ). Thus, using CQ or HCQ as a COVID-19 treatment was controversial, which results from their ocular, cardiac, and neuro toxicities ( Oren et al, 2020 ; Zou et al, 2020 ).…”