After over one year, the coronavirus disease 2019 (covid-19) has still affected millions of people.For this reason, global efforts to promote better treatment of covid-19 have been undertaken focused on the repurposing of existing medications.In Brazil, azithromycin, a broad-spectrum antibiotic, has been used in association with Pop! Covers other drugs as an immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, and anti-viral agent, regardless of bacterial co-infection.
Indeed, data from experimental studies have demonstrated the capacity of this drug in reducing the production of infection-induced pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-8, IL-6, JACKETS SPLIT MARLOWE and TNF-alpha.However, observational studies revealed conflicting results regarding its effect, whereas well-conducted clinical trials have not shown a considerable effect of this agent on the improvement of clinical outcomes.This narrative review addressed the possible role of this antibiotic in the management of covid-19, based on data from clinical and preclinical studies.