Psychotropic drug repurposing for COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Several psychotropic drugs, including antidepressants (AD), mood stabilizers, and antipsychotics (AP) have been suggested to have favorable effects in the treatment of COVID-19. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to collect evidence from studies concerning the scientific evidence for the repurposing of psychotropic drugs in COVID-19 treatment. Two independent authors searched PubMed-MEDLINE, Scopus, PsycINFO, and ClinicalTrials.gov databases, and reviewed the reference lists of articles for eligible articles published up to 13th December 2021. All computational, preclinical and clinical (observational and/or RCTs) studies on the effect of any psychotropic drug on Sars-CoV-2 or patients with COVID-19 were considered for inclusion. We conducted random effect meta-analyses on clinical studies reporting the effect of AD or AP on COVID-19 outcomes. 29 studies were included in the synthesis: 15 clinical, 9 preclinical, and 5 computational studies. 9 clinical studies could be included in the quantitative analyses. AD did not increase the risk of severe COVID-19 (RR= 1.71; CI 0.65–4.51) or mortality (RR=0.94; CI 0.81–1.09). Fluvoxamine was associated with a reduced risk of mortality for COVID-19 (OR=0.15; CI 0.02–0.95). AP increased the risk of severe COVID-19 (RR=3.66; CI 2.76–4.85) and mortality (OR=1.53; CI 1.15–2.03). Fluvoxamine might be a possible candidate for psychotropic drug repurposing in COVID-19 due to its anti-inflammatory and antiviral potential, while evidence on other AD is still controversial. Although AP are associated with worse COVID-19 outcomes, their use should be evaluated case to case and ongoing treatment with antipsychotics should be not discontinued in psychiatric patients.