Does Lithium Deserve a Place in the Treatment Against COVID-19? A Preliminary Observational Study in Six Patients, Case Report

Lithium has shown the capacity to: a) inhibit the replication of several types of viruses, some of which are similar to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, b) increase the immune response by reducing lymphopenia, and c) reduce inflammation by preventing or reducing the cytokine storm. In the present study, we hav...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Frontiers in pharmacology 2020-08, Vol.11, p.557629
Main Authors: Spuch, Carlos, López-García, Marta, Rivera-Baltanás, Tania, Rodrígues-Amorím, Daniela, Olivares, José M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
case report
COVID-19
inflammation
lithium carbonate
Pharmacology
SARS-CoV-2
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Summary:Lithium has shown the capacity to: a) inhibit the replication of several types of viruses, some of which are similar to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, b) increase the immune response by reducing lymphopenia, and c) reduce inflammation by preventing or reducing the cytokine storm. In the present study, we have treated six patients with severe COVID-19 infection with lithium carbonate. We found that lithium carbonate significantly reduced plasma reactive C-Protein levels, increased lymphocyte numbers and decreased the neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio, improving both inflammatory activity and the immune response in these patients. We propose that lithium carbonate may deserve a place in the treatment against COVID-19.
ISSN:1663-9812
1663-9812
DOI:10.3389/fphar.2020.557629