<p>Glycopeptides as Potential Interventions for COVID-19</p>

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), an infectious disease that primarily attacks the human pulmonary system, is caused by a viral strain called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The outbreak emerged from Wuhan, China, and later spread throughout the world. Until the first week of May 2020, over 3.7 million cases had been reported worldwide and more than 258,000 had died due to the disease. So far, off label use of various drugs has been tried in many clinical settings, however, at present, there is no vaccine or antiviral treatment for human and animal coronaviruses. Therefore, repurposing of the available drugs may be promising to control emerging infections of SARS-COV2; however, new interventions are likely to require months to years to develop. Glycopeptides, which are active against gram-positive bacteria, have demonstrated significant activity against viral infections including SARS-COV and MERS-COV and have a high resemblance of sequence homology with SARS-COV2. Recent in vitro studies have also shown promising activities of aglycon derivative of glycopeptides and teicoplanin against SARS-COV2. Hydrophobic aglycon derivatives and teicoplanin, with minimal toxicity to human cell lines, inhibit entry and replication of SARS-COV2. These drugs block proteolysis of polyprotein a/b with replicase and transcription domains. Teicoplanin use was associated with complete viral clearance in a cohort of patients with severe COVID-19 symptoms. This review attempts to describe the activity, elucidate the possible mechanisms and potential clinical applications of existing glycopeptides against corona viruses, specifically SARS-COV2.

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Antibiotic Prescribing Trends in Outpatient Care: A Nationwide, Quasi-Experimental Approach

“…Although the WHO’s recommendations for patients with mild or moderate COVID-19 are against the prescription of antibiotic therapy, unless there is a clinical suspicion of a bacterial infection or co-infection, this practice was shown to be common within hospitals [ 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ]. Various studies have shown that some antibiotics were used to treat COVID-19 inpatients as a combination (e.g., azithromycin used in combination with other drugs due to its immunomodulatory effect [ 13 , 14 ]) or alternative therapies [ 15 , 16 ].…”

Emerging Roles of Glycopeptide Antibiotics: Moving beyond Gram-Positive Bacteria

“…Researchers worldwide have been working to find methods to combat COVID-19 from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as the use of small molecules like remdesivir, hydroxychloroquine, nicotine, and many others. − Glycopeptide antibiotics have also been tested for their effectiveness at inhibiting coronaviruses, including feline coronavirus (FIPV), human coronavirus (SARS-CoV) (the causative agent of the 2002–2003 epidemic), and the novel 2019 human coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) (Table ). , While researchers first began studying the efficacy of using glycopeptide antibiotics to combat coronaviruses in 2006, using SARS-CoV, the recent outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 has both demonstrated and intensified the need for this research.…”

THERAPEUTIC MANAGEMENT OF PATIENTS INFECTED WITH SARS-CoV-2 VIRUS - A REVIEW

“…Patients received 6 mg/kg teicoplanin every 24 hours (loading dose every 12 hours for three doses) for 7-12 days. The result suggested that the drug has anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity with a reduced risk of nephrotoxicity and rash (Demsie et al, 2020). The first results obtained from the beginning of the pandemic with over 100 patients showed the apparent efficiency of chloroquine in reducing the exacerbation of pneumonia, the duration of the symptoms and viral clearance, as well as the absence of severe side effects.…”