IIT-M study says Indomethacin works well in treating mild Covid-19

A trial designed by the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) has shown “ excellent efficacy” of Indomethacin, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, as an antiviral agent in the treatment of mild and moderate Covid-19 patients, the institute said on Friday.

However, the drug is currently not part of the Covid-19 treatment protocol.

The findings of the study, which was funded by Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan, have recently been published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Scientific Reports. The study conducted at Panimalar Medical College and Research Institute in Poonamalle near here was led by Dr Rajan Ravichandran, an Adjunct Faculty at IIT Madras and Director of Nephrology at MIOT hospitals.

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The study, which was conceptualised and coordinated by Prof. R. Krishna Kumar, Institute professor, IIT-M, is the first to show the efficacy of indomethacin through a randomised clinical trial, though the scientific basis has been researched by Italian and US scientists.

Of the total 210 admitted patients, as many as 107 were randomly allocated to a control group, treated with paracetamol and standard care of treatment, while 103 patients were administered indomethacin along with standard care of treatment. The patients were monitored daily for symptoms like cough, cold, and fever along with oxygen saturation.

Prof. Krishna Kumar said none of the 103 patients who received indomethacin developed oxygen desaturation, while 20 of the 109 patients from the control group were desaturated with oxygen saturation levels below 93 per cent.

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“Indomethacin group patients recovered from all symptoms in three to four days. It took double the time for the control group. Liver and kidney function tests showed no adverse reaction. The 14th-day follow‐up showed that nearly half of the control group patients had several discomforts while a few indomethacin patients complained only of tiredness,” he added.

The two reviewers, Prof. Vikas Sukhatme, an internationally acclaimed expert in immunology from Emory University and Dr. Colin Brown, an infectious disease specialist from the UK have rated the article as 4 out of 5.

Dr Rajan Ravichandran said knowing that one of the deadly effects of the Covid infection is inflammation and the cytokine storm, the team decided to study the non‐steroidal anti‐inflammatory drug, Indomethacin. “The scientific evidence strongly shows the anti-viral action against Coronavirus. Indomethacin is a safe and well-understood drug. I have been using it in my profession for the past thirty years,” he said.

He added that Indomethacin works with all variants, and expressed the hope that ICMR takes note of the IIT-M study and includes indomethacin in the Covid treatment protocol.

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