Safety and Efficacy of Enoxaparin and Hydroxychloroquine in COVID-19

Overview

In this randomized controlled study, two hundred patients with positive PCR and laboratory confirmed COVID-19 will be classified randomly into four groups. The first group is the control group and will be given the conventional treatment of covid-19 only. The second group will be given enoxaparin plus the conventional treatment of Covid-19. The third group will be given hydroxychloroquine (HCQ 400 mg/day) for five days plus the conventional treatment of covid-19. The last group will be given combined therapy of HCQ 400 mg/day and enoxaparin plus the conventional therapy of covid-19 The efficacy will be assessed by the time of undetectable viral RNA, duration of treatment and length of hospital stay. The safety will be assessed by measuring the severity of side effects by following up the patients after treatment.

Although numerous therapeutic agents for COVID-19 are under investigation, an effective therapy remains a challenge among researchers. To date, hydroxychloroquine has been widely used for covid-19 treatment, despite that its efficacy and safety need further investigations. Coagulopathies are major complications of covid-19 infection, hence prophylactic anticoagulation has been recommended in all hospitalized patients. This study aims to assess the efficacy and safety of Enoxaparin and hydroxychloroquine used separately or combined and added to standard care versus standard care alone in Covid-19 infected patients. An observational study including two hundred patients (98 males, 102 females) with laboratory confirmed covid-19 infection was conducted. Patients admitted to hospital were randomly allocated into four equal treatment groups. The first group received standard Covid-19 therapy, second group received enoxaparin 40mg/day SC for 14 days plus standard Covid-19 therapy, third group received 400 mg/day HCQ for five days plus standard Covid-19 therapy. The fourth group received a combination of 400 mg/day HCQ and enoxaparin plus standard Covid-19 therapy. The clinical disease course progression was evaluated by duration to a negative PCR, length of hospital or ICU stay, and mortality rate. The safety of treatments was evaluated by measuring liver biochemistries (ALT, AST), random blood glucose levels and adverse effects during the 28 days of treatment. Patients on Enoxaparin plus standard Covid-19 therapy significantly showed a decrease in length of hospital stay, ICU admission and mortality compared to all other treatments. However, the duration to both negative PCR and clinical improvement did not find any significance. These findings suggest that enoxaparin treatment was safe, effective, and well tolerated and has a role in decreasing the progression of the disease and its complications while HCQ did not discover any evidence of extra therapeutic benefits over other treatments.