key: cord-0727773-65wokvyd
authors: Savarino, Andrea; Cauda, Roberto; Cassone, Antonio
title: On the use of chloroquine for chikungunya
date: 2007-09-24
journal: Lancet Infect Dis
DOI: 10.1016/s1473-3099(07)70217-7
sha: 02daefeae571984ec376e5b992a52bd8803bfe0a
doc_id: 727773
cord_uid: 65wokvyd

nan

Our responsibility to future generations demands choosing safe and sustainable alternatives in our present activities. 

In their Review on chikungunya, Gilles Pialoux and colleagues 1 quote a Refl ection and Reaction commentary previously published by our group 2 as the source for the statement that "a clinical trial in South Africa failed to confi rm the clinical effi cacy of chloroquine on arthralgia". It is true that chloroquine displays antiviral and antiinfl ammatory properties that, in our opinion, merit testing in the clinical management of some viral diseases. However, we reported no data on chikungunya, nor did we mention this disease in our articles in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. 2, 3 Our research has so far been focused on the eff ects of chloroquine on HIV-1, 4 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus, 3 infl uenza A viruses, 5 and cancer cells. 6 It is our policy to suggest new ideas only when they are supported by robust experimental results, which are highly reproducible in diff erent laboratory settings. [7] [8] [9] [10] Furthermore, clinical trials in Réunion on chloroquine as a potential antiviral for chikungunya cannot be linked to our previous studies, in that the chloroquine dosage adopted (ie, 250 mg daily) 11 is inconsistent with the tissue drug concentrations that we report are necessary to inhibit the aforementioned viruses. 2 

Chikungunya, an epidemic arbovirosis

New insights into the antiviral eff ects of chloroquine

Eff ects of chloroquine on viral infections: an old drug against today's diseases

Anti-HIV eff ects of chloroquine: inhibition of viral particle glycosylation and synergism with protease inhibitors

Diff erent pH requirements are associated with divergent inhibitory eff ects of chloroquine on human and avian infl uenza A viruses

Risks and benefi ts of chloroquine use in anticancer strategies

Eff ect of chloroquine on reducing HIV-1 replication in vitro and the DC-SIGN mediated transfer of virus to CD4+ T-lymphocytes

In vitro inhibition of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus by chloroquine

In vitro inhibition of human infl uenza A virus replication by chloroquine

Enhancing the eff ect of radionuclide tumor targeting, using lysosomotropic weak bases

CuraChik: a trial of the effi cacy and safety of chloroquine as therapeutic treatment of chikungunya disease http:// clinicaltrials.gov/ct/show/NCT00391313

Quinoline antimalarials as investigational drugs for HIV-1/AIDS: in vitro eff ects on HIV-1 replication, HIV-1 response to antiretroviral drugs, and intracellular antiretroviral drug concentrations