Efficacy and safety of lopinavir/ritonavir in the treatment of COVID-19: A systematic review

  • Betsy Ann Joseph
  • , Mahmoud Dibas
  • , Kirk W. Evanson
  • , Geeta Paranjape
  • , Charan Thej Reddy Vegivinti
  • , Pragadeesh Thamarai Selvan
  • , Kavitha Saravu
  • , Nitin Gupta
  • , Yashwitha Sai Pulakurthi
  • , Praneeth Reddy Keesari
  • , Sriram Varsha
  • , Spandana Chittajallu
  • , Adam A. Dmytriw
  • , Natalie L. Reierson
  • , Nick Mikoff
  • , Shelby Kamrowski
  • , Megan Schmidt
  • , Amber R. Davis
  • , John M. Pederson
  • , Hemant K. Mishra
  • Jillienne C. Touchette, Kevin Kallmes*
*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

14 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Objectives: To systematically review the clinical literature reporting the use of Lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r) for the treatment of patients with Cornonavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) to assess the efficacy of LPV/r for the treatment of COVID-19. Methods: The authors systematically searched PubMed and MedRxiv databases for studies describing treatment of COVID-19 patients using LPV/r compared to other therapies. Articles were excluded if they were case reports, opinion editorials, preclinical studies, single-armed studies, not written in English, not relevant to the topic, or published before May 2020. The included outcomes were viral clearance as measured by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) negativity and/or improvement on chest computed tomography (CT), mortality, and adverse events. Results: Among 858 total studies, 16 studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in the qualitative review. These studies consisted of 3 randomized control trials, 3 open-label trials, and 10 observational studies. Most of these studies did not report positive clinical outcomes with LPV/r treatment. Conclusion: The systematic review revealed insufficient evidence of effectiveness and clinical benefit of LPV/r in the treatment of COVID-19 patients. Specifically, LPV/r does not appear to improve clinical outcome, mortality, time to RT-PCR negativity, or chest CT clearance in patients with COVID-19.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)679-687
Number of pages9
JournalExpert Review of Anti-Infective Therapy
Volume19
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Microbiology
  • Microbiology (medical)
  • Virology
  • Infectious Diseases

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