Pentoxifylline and Covid-19: A Systematic Review

Abstract

At more than 10 months after the first case of COVID-19 was documented, the understanding of the pathogenesis of this viral illness is growing on a daily basis. A massive pro-inflammatory response on infected individuals involving several cytokines seems to play a key role on disease. As a result, therapeutic efforts have focused on anti-inflammatory strategies to ameliorate the disease, in sight of a lack of a truly effective anti-viral agent. Pentoxifylline (PTX) has been proposed by multiple authors as a potential therapeutic ally, targeting a variety of mechanisms as it has been shown to have antiviral, anti-inflammatory and hemodynamic effects. Importantly, anti-inflammatory effects center on down-regulation of cytokines such as interleukins and tumor necrosis factor. In pre-pandemic studies, PTX has demonstrated to change the clinical course of inflammatory diseases such as acute respiratory distress syndrome, which is a hallmark of severe COVID-19. Researchers agree it is pertinent to experimentally evaluate the effect this drug has on COVID-19 patients. The objective of this review is to summarize all the proposed mechanisms by which PTX may aid in the treatment of COVID-19, as well as prevent its deadly complications. Our interpretation of the literature is that the benefits PTX may bring to a patient with COVID-19 outweigh the risks this drug might pose on them. As a result, there is consensus regarding the evaluation of PTX in further experimental studies to better characterize its effects on COVID-19 patients.

Simultaneous Determination of Pentoxifylline and Melatonin in Spiked Plasma Samples by Reverse Phase High Performance Liquid Chromatography Method

“…PTX (chemically known as 3,7-dimethyl-1-(5-oxohexyl)-2,3,6,7-tetrahydro-1H-purine-2,6dione), is a xanthine derivative with favorable anti-inflammatory effects and immunoregulatory properties and MLT (N-[2-(5-methoxy-1H-indol-3-yl)ethyl]acetamide) is an indole derivative that regulates circadian rhythms, has pronounced antioxidant properties and interacts with the immune system. Given the properties of both drugs, as well as the clinical picture of Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19), many authors consider PTX [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] and MLT [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] as potential adjuvant therapy drugs.…”