Drug repurposing of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors: Could these drugs help fight COVID-19 and save lives?

ABSTRACT: The current 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), an emerging infectious disease, is undoubtedly the most challenging pandemic in the 21st century. A total of 92,977,768 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 1,991,289 deaths were reported globally up to January 14, 2021. COVID-19 also affects people's mental health and quality of life. At present, there is no effective therapeutic strategy for the management of this disease. Therefore, in the absence of a specific vaccine or curative treatment, it is an urgent need to identify safe, effective and globally available drugs for reducing COVID-19 morbidity and fatalities. In this review, we focus on selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs: a class of antidepressant drugs with widespread availability and an optimal tolerability profile) t

SUBMITTER: Pashaei Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7973060 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature