Limited impact of ivermectin on immune response and transcriptional profiles in mild COVID-19
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Ivermectin (IVM) was tested as a treatment for COVID-19 due to its in vitro antiviral activity and possible immunomodulatory properties. Here, we studied the immunomodulatory effects in a clinical trial involving 24 mild COVID-19 patients who received IVM within 72 h of symptoms onset by comprehensively analyzing immune responses over 28 days. The IVM group had statistically significant increased levels of IgG against the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid compared to the control group at days 4 and 7 post-treatment. IVM did not affect the kinetics of leukocyte subsets or SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells, despite a decrease in naïve CD4 + T cells, which was non-significant after adjusting for multiple comparisons. Although differential gene expression was not observed between IVM-treated and placebo groups, blood transcriptional module analysis revealed statistically significant decreases in innate and antiviral signatures and increases in adaptive signatures over time, with 10 modules upregulated (related to innate responses) and 15 modules downregulated (related to T cells and cell cycle) in the IVM-treated group compared to placebo. In conclusion, despite some weak differences in IVM treated participants, our detailed analyses do not support significant immunomodulatory effects that could benefit disease progression.
Source: Scientific Reports
Authors: Marta Ribes, Mar Canyelles, Cèlia Torres, Rocío Rubio, Marta Vidal, Luis Izquierdo, Andrés Blanco-Di Matteo, Iñigo Pineda, Alejandro Fernandez-Montero, Carlota Jordan-Iborra, Francisco Carmona-Torre, José R. Yuste, Jose L. Del Pozo, Gabriel Reina, Belen Sadaba, Mirian Fernández-Alonso, Pere Santamaria, Carlo Carolis, Ruth Aguilar, Dídac Macià, Carlos Chaccour, Carlota Dobaño, Gemma Moncunill
Institutions: Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Universitat de Barcelona, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Enfermedades Infecciosas, Clinica Universidad de Navarra, Universidad de Navarra, Navarre Institute of Health Research, University of Calgary, Consorci Institut D'Investigacions Biomediques August Pi I Sunyer, Fundació de Recerca Clínic Barcelona-Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer, Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Centre for Genomic Regulation, CaixaResearch Institute
Language: English
Subfield: Infectious Diseases
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,690
Funders: Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, Centres de Recerca de Catalunya, Generalitat de Catalunya, Universidad de Navarra, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Fundació Privada Daniel Bravo Andreu, Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca, Agencia Estatal de Investigación, European Social Fund
Awards: G1303446777, G1492381563, G1855990336, G2064873908, G2112008609, G2309174360, G2462415295, G2651899972, G2792670919, G2819494518, G288263039, G3005324705, G300979063, G3518538256, G3785293015, G430777504, G5421974903, G5852091828, G6218905885, G630635040, G6656126374, G6933787748, G9000845758, G9000846854, G9000847228
OpenAlex ID: W7215049826