Macroeconomics

Coronavirus

Ecology

Biology

Depression (economics)

Virology

Clinical trial

Antiretroviral therapy

Receptor

Psychiatry

Economics

Fluoxetine

Anxiety

Viral load

Antidepressant

Drug

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Repurposing

Hippocampus

Infectious disease (medical specialty)

Internal medicine

Pharmacology

Drug repositioning

Medicine

Drug interaction

Virus

Pandemic

Indinavir

Approved drug

Disease

Serotonin

Sertraline

Scientific Reports

During the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, symptoms of depression are commonly documented among both symptomatic and asymptomatic quarantined COVID-19 patients. Despite that many of the FDA-approved drugs have been showed anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity in vitro and remarkable efficacy against COVID-19 in clinical trials, no pharmaceutical products have yet been declared to be fully effective for treating COVID-19. Antidepressants comprise five major drug classes for the treatment of depression, neuralgia, migraine prophylaxis, and eating disorders which are frequently reported symptoms in COVID-19 patients. Herein, the efficacy of eight frequently prescribed FDA-approved antidepressants on the inhibition of both SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV was assessed. Additionally, the in vitro anti-SARS-CoV-2 and anti-MERS-CoV activities were evaluated. Furthermore, molecular docking studies have been performed for these drugs against the spike (S) and main protease (Mpro) pockets of both SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV. Results showed that Amitriptyline, Imipramine, Paroxetine, and Sertraline had potential anti-viral activities. Our findings suggested that the aforementioned drugs deserve more in vitro and in vivo studies targeting COVID-19 especially for those patients suffering from depression.

Robust antiviral activity of commonly prescribed antidepressants against emerging coronaviruses: in vitro and in silico drug repurposing studies