An Open-Label Prospective Observational Study of Antiandrogen and Non-Antiandrogen Early Pharmacological Approaches in Females with Mild-to-Moderate COVID-19: The Pre-AndroCoV Female Trial
October 2020
in “
medRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
”
TLDR Early treatment improved COVID-19 outcomes, and spironolactone helped reduce risks in females with high androgen levels.
The study from October 2020 involved 270 females with early-stage COVID-19, divided into non-hyperandrogenic (HA) (195 participants), HA (67 participants), and HA using spironolactone (HA-spiro) (8 participants) groups. The study aimed to evaluate the effects of early pharmacological treatment and investigate if HA is an additional risk factor. The treatment included azithromycin, hydroxychloroquine, nitazoxanide, ivermectin, and optionally spironolactone. The results showed that time-to-treat, positive rtPCR, and duration of symptoms were significantly lower in the HA-spiro group than in the non-HA, HA, and overall non-users. HA females presented more severe and prolonged clinical manifestations, but none progressed to worse outcomes. Spironolactone users were more likely to be asymptomatic during COVID-19. The study concluded that early detection and pharmaceutical treatment of COVID-19 showed significant improvements in clinical outcomes, and spironolactone mitigated the additional risks due to HA.