Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Correspondence
  • Published:

Potential of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 causes fears of shortages among people with systemic lupus erythematosus

Nature Medicine volume 26, page 632 (2020)Cite this article

Subjects

To the Editor — In March 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic1, reports that chloroquine (CQ) can inhibit the growth of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2)2,3 have brought this molecule into the spotlight. Hydroxychloroquine (HCQS), which is typically used in dermatology clinics for the management of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and has a better clinical safety profile and fewer drug–drug interactions than CQ, has also been demonstrated to have anti-SARS-CoV activity in vitro2,4. Now, amid the speculation regarding the beneficial roles of these molecules in COVID-19 treatment, shortages of CQ and HCQS are feared.

CQ has been shown in vitro to increase endosomal pH, prevent virus–cell fusion, and interfere with glycosylation of the ACE2 receptor and thus the binding of the SARS-CoV-2 S protein to ACE2 (ref. 3). Chinese experts recommend that mild, moderate and severe COVID-19 cases (without contraindications to CQ) be treated with 500 milligrams of CQ twice daily for 10 days (ref. 5). A Chinese study has demonstrated that HCQS is more potent than CQ in inhibiting SARS-CoV-2 in vitro2. These new developments have brought some hope for COVID-19 treatment, though more research is warranted to validate the findings.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. WHO Director-General’s opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19 - 11 March 2020. World Health Organization https://www.who.int/dg/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-covid-19---11-march-2020 (2020).

  2. Yao, X. et al. Clin. Infect. Dis. https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciaa237 (2020).

  3. Wang, M. et al. Cell Res. 30, 269–271 (2020).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Biot, C. et al. J. Med. Chem. 49, 2845–2849 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Multicenter collaboration group of Department of Science and Technology of Guangdong Province and Health Commission of Guangdong Province for chloroquine in the treatment of novel coronavirus pneumonia. Zhonghua Jie He He Hu Xi Za Zhi 43, 185–188 (2020).

    Google Scholar 

  6. Schrezenmeier, E. & Dörner, T. Nat. Rev. Rheumatol. 16, 155–166 (2020).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Dermatology, North Delhi Municipal Corporation Medical College and Hindu Rao Hospital, New Delhi, India

    Deepak Jakhar & Ishmeet Kaur

Authors
  1. Deepak Jakhar
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ishmeet Kaur
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Deepak Jakhar.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Jakhar, D., Kaur, I. Potential of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 causes fears of shortages among people with systemic lupus erythematosus. Nat Med 26, 632 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-020-0853-0

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Version of record:

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-020-0853-0

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing