Azithromycin With Nitazoxanide, Hydroxychloroquine or Ivermectin, With or Without Dutasteride, for Early Stage COVID-19: An Open-Label Prospective Observational Study in Males With Mild-to-Moderate COVID-19 (The Pre-AndroCoV Male Trial)

In this observational study from 2020, 305 males with early-stage COVID-19 were divided into three groups: those without androgenetic alopecia (AGA), those with AGA not using dutasteride, and those with AGA using dutasteride. The study found that males with AGA were more severely affected by COVID-19 in terms of duration of clinical manifestations (14.2 days vs 9.4 days) and viral shedding (17.8 days vs 14.0 days). However, these effects were fully mitigated by the chronic use of dutasteride. The study also found that the combination of early and more sensitive diagnosis of COVID-19 with a variety of drug combinations improved clinical outcomes and prevented progression to more severe states in all patients, regardless of risk factors. The researchers concluded that any additional risk factor can be completely mitigated by combining more sensitive clinical suspicion with early pharmacological approaches.