TY - JOUR
AU - Standing, Joseph F.
AU - Buggiotti, Laura
AU - Guerra-Assuncao, Jose Afonso
AU - Woodall, Maximillian N. J.
AU - Ellis, Samuel
AU - Agyeman, Akosua A.
AU - Miller, Charles
AU - Okechukwu, Mercy
AU - Kirkpatrick, Emily
AU - Jacobs, Amy I.
AU - Williams, Charlotte A.
AU - Roy, Sunando
AU - Martin-Bernal, Luz M.
AU - Williams, Rachel
AU - Smith, Claire M.
AU - Sanderson, Theo
AU - Ashford, Fiona
AU - Emmanuel, Beena
AU - Afzal, Zaheer M.
AU - Sheilds, Adrian
AU - Richter, Alex
AU - Dorward, Jienchi
AU - Gbinigie, Oghenekome A.
AU - Lown, Mark
AU - Francis, Nick
AU - Jani, Bhautesh D.
AU - Richards, Duncan B.
AU - Rahman, Najib M.
AU - Yu, Ly-Mee
AU - Thomas, Nicholas P.B.
AU - Hart, Nigel D.
AU - Evans, Philip
AU - Andersson, Monique
AU - Hayward, Gail
AU - Hood, Kerenza
AU - Nguyen-Van-Tam, Jonathan S.
AU - Little, Paul
AU - Hobbs, F.D. Richard
AU - Khoo, Saye
AU - Butler, Christopher C.
AU - Lowe, David M.
AU - Breuer, Judith
AU - van Hecke, Oliver
PY - 2024
DA - February
TI - Randomized controlled trial of molnupiravir SARS-CoV-2 viral and antibody response in at-risk adult outpatients
JO - Nature Communications
VL - 15
DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-45641-0
AB - Viral clearance, antibody response and the mutagenic effect of molnupiravir has not 77 been elucidated in at-risk populations. Non-hospitalised participants within 5 days of 78 SARS-CoV-2 symptoms randomised to receive molnupiravir (n=253) or Usual Care 79 (n=324) were recruited to study viral and antibody dynamics and the effect of molnupiravir on viral whole genome sequence from 1437 viral genomes. Molnupiravir accelerates viral load decline, but virus is detectable by Day 5 in most cases. At Day 14 (9 days post-treatment), molnupiravir is associated with significantly higher viral persistence and significantly lower anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike antibody titres compared to Usual Care. Serial sequencing reveals increased mutagenesis with molnupiravir treatment. Persistence of detectable viral RNA at Day 14 in the molnupiravir group is associated with higher transition mutations following treatment cessation. Viral viability at Day 14 is similar in both groups with post-molnupiravir treated samples cultured up to 9 days post cessation of treatment. The current 5-day molnupiravir course is too short. Longer courses should be tested to reduce the risk of potentially transmissible molnupiravir-mutated variants being generated.
PB - Springer Nature
UR - https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/320633/
KW - Coronavirus (COVID-19)
ER