Evaluation of the efficacy and safety of oral N‐acetylcysteine in patients with COVID‐19 receiving the routine antiviral and hydroxychloroquine protocol: A randomized controlled clinical trial

BACKGROUND: The current absence of gold‐standard or all‐aspect favorable therapies for COVID‐19 renders a focus on multipotential drugs proposed to prevent or treat this infection or ameliorate its signs and symptoms vitally important. The present well‐designed randomized controlled trial (RCT) sought to evaluate the efficacy and safety of N‐acetylcysteine (NAC) as adjuvant therapy for 60 hospitalized Iranian patients with COVID‐19. METHODS: Two 30‐person diets, comprising 15 single diets of Kaletra (lopinavir/ritonavir) + hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) with/without NAC (600 mg TDS) and atazanavir/ritonavir + HCQ with/without NAC (600 mg TDS), were administered in the study. RESULTS: At the end of the study, a further decrease in C‐reactive protein was observed in the NAC group (P = 0.008), and no death occurred in the atazanavir/ritonavir + HCQ + NAC group, showing that the combination of these drugs may reduce mortality. The atazanavir/ritonavir + HCQ and atazanavir/ritonavir + NAC groups exhibited the highest O(2) saturation at the end of the study and a significant rise in O(2) saturation following intervention commencement, including NAC (P > 0.05). Accordingly, oral or intravenous NAC, if indicated, may enhance O(2) saturation, blunt the inflammation trend (by reducing C‐reactive protein), and lower mortality in hospitalized patients with COVID‐19. CONCLUSION: The NAC could be more effective as prophylactic or adjuvant therapy in stable non‐severe cases of COVID‐19 with a particularly positive role in the augmentation of O(2) saturation and faster reduction of the CRP level and inflammation or could be effective for better controlling of COVID‐19 or its therapy‐related side effects.