Affiliation:
1. Cancer Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, #1 Jianshedong Str., Zhengzhou, 450052, China
2. Department
of Biochemistry (A DST-FIST Supported Department), Center of Excellence in Molecular Biology and Regenerative Medicine
(CEMR; A DST-FIST Supported Center), JSS Medical College, JSS Academy of Higher Education & Research (JSS AHER), Mysuru,
Karnataka, India
Abstract
Background:
Mortality of the older adult population suffering from COVID-19 has
been increasing at an alarming rate, and people older than 76 years of age reported 18% mortality.
Mainly, the EU and USA exhibited a greater fatality rate due to lack of selective immunization and
anti-SARS Co-V-2 therapeutics. Very limited reports are available to delineate the impact of
COVID-19 on the geriatric population and the failures of aminoquinoline therapy.
Methods:
We performed a substantial literature review in the PubMed/Medline databases to extract
the information pertaining to the COVID-19 impact on the geriatric population and recent failures
of aminoquinoline therapy in COVID-19 patients of EU, China, USA and the requirement of vaccination.
Results and Discussions:
Both parental strains and mutant variants of SARS Co-V-2 can induce severe
respiratory complications, multiorgan failure, and clotting abnormalities in older adults due to
low immunocompetence. Aminoquinoline derivatives, such as chloroquine (CQ) and hydroxychloroquine
(HCQ), are preferred primarily for COVID-19 treatment, but several controversies
are being reported for its usage worldwide. In this review, we have provided the effects of
COVID-19 on the geriatric population of EU and an overview of the mechanism of action of aminoquinolines.
Furthermore, CQ and HCQ are not the preferred choice of drugs if the COVID-19 patients
already have existing co-morbid conditions viz., diabetes mellitus and hypertension.
Conclusion:
A new advent of COVID-19 vaccines, such as nucleic acid-based (DNA/mRNA)
vaccines, protein subunit vaccines, viral vector vaccines, and inactivated vaccines, have been developed
for treating SARS-CoV-2 infection after the failure of aminoquinoline therapy in EU, China,
and USA patients. However, some of the vaccines are yet to be examined against mutant strains of
SARS CoV-2 that originated in the UK, Nigeria, South Africa, Brazil, and India.
Funder
National Natural Science Foundation of China
Publisher
Bentham Science Publishers Ltd.
Subject
Pharmacology,Molecular Medicine,Drug Discovery,Biochemistry,Organic Chemistry