Background Some studies have shown that hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) is an effective drug in reducing the in vitro replication of SARS-CoV-2. However, the in vivo effect of HCQ still unclear. Objectives This study aims to evaluate viral load clearance in patients with COVID-19 who underwent HCQ treatment in comparison with a control group that did not receive the drug. Study design This prospective study comprised consecutive viral load measurements in patients with COVID-19 hospitalized with a moderate illness. Patients received 400 mg of HCQ every 12 h for 10 days according to the medical decision. Nasal swab samples were collected from patients during early, intermediary, and final clinical stage of COVID-19. Results A total of 155 samples were collected from 66 patients with COVID-19 (60% female), with a median age of 58 years. The viral load between studied groups, assumed as a semiquantitative measure of cycle threshold (Ct) values, presented no significant difference within the three consecutive measures (ΔCt) (p > 0.05). We also analyzed the ΔCt viral load at different intervals of sample collection (Δt < 7; 7–12; and > 12 days) without significant differences at any ΔCt (p > 0.05). Conclusion In this study, we did not observe any change in viral load reduction in vivo with the use of HCQ.

中文翻译：

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羟氯喹对降低非危重住院 COVID-19 患者的 SARS-CoV-2 病毒载量没有益处

背景 一些研究表明，羟氯喹 (HCQ) 是减少 SARS-CoV-2 体外复制的有效药物。然而，HCQ的体内作用尚不清楚。目的 本研究旨在评估接受 HCQ 治疗的 COVID-19 患者与未接受该药物的对照组相比的病毒载量清除率。研究设计 这项前瞻性研究包括对因中度疾病住院的 COVID-19 患者的连续病毒载量测量。根据医疗决定，患者每 12 小时接受 400 毫克 HCQ，持续 10 天。在 COVID-19 的早期、中期和最终临床阶段从患者身上收集鼻拭子样本。结果共收集了 66 名 COVID-19 患者（60% 为女性）的 155 个样本，中位年龄为 58 岁。研究组之间的病毒载量假设为循环阈值 (Ct) 值的半定量测量，在三个连续测量 (ΔCt) 中没有显着差异 (p > 0.05)。我们还分析了不同样本收集间隔（Δt < 7；7-12 天；和 > 12 天）的 ΔCt 病毒载量，在任何 ΔCt 处均无显着差异（p > 0.05）。结论 在这项研究中，我们没有观察到使用 HCQ 后体内病毒载量减少的任何变化。