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).

The observational study conducted in 2020 involved 305 males with early-stage COVID-19, divided into three groups: non-AGA (Androgenetic Alopecia), AGA not using dutasteride, and AGA using dutasteride. The study found that males, particularly those with AGA, were at a higher risk of developing complications from COVID-19. The most common symptoms were anosmia (68.9%), ageusia (61.2%), and headache (37.5%). The study found that AGA males were more severely affected in terms of duration of clinical manifestations (14.2 days vs 9.4 days) and viral shedding (17.8 days vs 14.0 days) compared to non-AGA males. However, the chronic use of dutasteride fully mitigated these effects. The study concluded that early diagnosis and a variety of drug combinations, including azithromycin plus hydroxychloroquine, nitazoxanide 500mg or ivermectin, with or without dutasteride or spironolactone, improved COVID-19 related clinical outcomes and prevented progression to more severe states in all patients, regardless of risk factors.