Early use of nitazoxanide in mild Covid-19 disease: randomized, placebo-controlled trial

Cold Spring Harbor Lab, BMJ, Yale ^ | 11/1/2020 | Patricia R. M. Rocco, et al

[krogers58]

Pre-print (awaiting peer review) publication of Nitazoxanide vs. Placebo.

[krogers58]

It appears to minimize severity and shows a reduction in viral load.

[krogers58]

Not sure they got the dosage correctly, as Nitazoxanide has a half life of 2.9 hrs. Should have been on divided doses, several times a day.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

The antiparasitic drug nitazoxanide is widely available and exerts broad-spectrum antiviral activity in vitro. However, there is no evidence of its impact on SARS-CoV-2 infection.

At the 5-day study visit, symptom resolution did not differ between the nitazoxanide and placebo arms. However, at the 1-week follow-up, 78% in the nitazoxanide arm and 57% in the placebo arm reported complete resolution of symptoms (p=0.048). Swabs collected were negative for SARS-CoV-2 in 29.9% of patients in the nitazoxanide arm versus 18.2% in the placebo arm (p=0.009). Viral load was also reduced after nitazoxanide compared to placebo (p=0.006). No serious adverse events were observed.

It is quite interesting that at least three antiparasitic drugs have similar effects on COVID-19: HCQ, Ivermectin, and now nitazoxanide. What is it about this broad class of drugs that make them effective against COVID?

All three are only useful at the earliest stage of the disease and seem to have roughly the same efficacy.

[Bob434]

it’s very simple- the harder it is to pronounce, the more effective it is against the virus

[krogers58]

It is quite interesting that at least three antiparasitic drugs have similar effects on COVID-19: HCQ, Ivermectin, and now nitazoxanide. What is it about this broad class of drugs that make them effective against COVID?

Not sure about the Ivermectin or HCQ, but I believe they are effective treatments. As far as Nitazoxanide (aka Nionide) is concerned, here's what I found at:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166354214002137#:~:text=2.2.-,Mechanism%20of%20action,et%20al.%2C%202009a)

Excerpts for the above webpage indicate:

"The Lancet Infectious Diseases found that oral administration of nitazoxanide 600 mg twice daily for five days reduced the duration of clinical symptoms and reduced viral shedding compared to placebo in persons with laboratory-confirmed influenza......."

"From a chemical perspective, nitazoxanide is the scaffold for a new class of drugs called thiazolides. These small-molecule drugs target host-regulated processes involved in viral replication."

[ProtectOurFreedom]

The close chemical cousin of Nitazoxanide, Nitrous Oxide, really gives you a boost!

[Bob434]

I took some kind of Nitric supplement i think it was- not sure if it’s related? but it gave a good boost for workouts-

[Malsua]

What is it about this broad class of drugs that make them effective against COVID?

We know that Ivermectin mediates nuclear protein import. Shuts the door so the virus can't get in.

The mechanism is probably the same here.

This is why everyone should be taking Quercetin and a Zinc supplement. Quercetin is a zinc ionophore. Guess what that does? Nuclear protein import of zinc. It hogs up the protein highway so the virus can't get in and what does get in gets disrupted by the zinc.