{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,12]],"date-time":"2026-09-12T06:14:57Z","timestamp":1789193697841,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,16]],"date-time":"2024-08-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1723766400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Chosun University"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Microorganisms"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The spread of COVID-19 has significantly increased research on antiviral drugs and measures such as case isolation and contact tracing. This study compared the effects of lopinavir\/ritonavir and remdesivir on COVID-19 patients with a control group receiving no antiviral drugs. Patients confirmed to have a SARS-CoV-2 infection via real-time RT-PCR were divided into three groups: lopinavir\/ritonavir, remdesivir, and control. We assessed the efficacy of these drugs in reducing viral load and viral shedding duration using real-time RT-PCR and Vero E6 cell cultures. Lopinavir\/ritonavir led to no detectable infectious SARS-CoV-2, with a median viral clearance time of one day, whereas one remdesivir-treated case remained culture-positive until day 12. Lopinavir\/ritonavir significantly reduced viral load compared to remdesivir and control groups (p = 0.0117 and p = 0.0478). No infectious virus was detected in the lopinavir\/ritonavir group, and the non-infectious SARS-CoV-2 proportion remained constant at 90%, higher than in the remdesivir and control groups (p = 0.0097). There was a significant difference in culture positivity among the groups (p = 0.0234), particularly between the lopinavir\/ritonavir and remdesivir groups (p = 0.0267). These findings suggest that lopinavir\/ritonavir reduces viral load and shortens the viral shedding duration compared to remdesivir, despite not being an effective treatment option.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/microorganisms12081696","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,16]],"date-time":"2024-08-16T12:40:07Z","timestamp":1723812007000},"page":"1696","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":9,"title":["Comparable Efficacy of Lopinavir\/Ritonavir and Remdesivir in Reducing Viral Load and Shedding Duration in Patients with COVID-19"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Choon-Mee","family":"Kim","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Premedical Science, Chosun University College of Medicine, Gwangju 61452, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jae Keun","family":"Chung","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Health and Environment Research Institute of Gwangju, Gwangju 61954, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sadia","family":"Tamanna","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine, Chosun University College of Medicine, Gwangju 61452, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mi-Seon","family":"Bang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine, Chosun University College of Medicine, Gwangju 61452, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Misbah","family":"Tariq","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine, Chosun University College of Medicine, Gwangju 61452, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"You Mi","family":"Lee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine, Chosun University College of Medicine, Gwangju 61452, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jun-Won","family":"Seo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine, Chosun University College of Medicine, Gwangju 61452, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Da Young","family":"Kim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine, Chosun University College of Medicine, Gwangju 61452, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Na Ra","family":"Yun","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine, Chosun University College of Medicine, Gwangju 61452, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jinjong","family":"Seo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Health and Environment Research Institute of Gwangju, Gwangju 61954, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yuri","family":"Kim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, 103, Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul 03080, Republic of Korea"},{"name":"Institute of Endemic Disease, Seoul National University Medical Research, Seoul 03080, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Min Ji","family":"Kim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Health and Environment Research Institute of Gwangju, Gwangju 61954, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6373-0922","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dong-Min","family":"Kim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine, Chosun University College of Medicine, Gwangju 61452, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3673-6397","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nam-Hyuk","family":"Cho","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, 103, Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul 03080, Republic of Korea"},{"name":"Institute of Endemic Disease, Seoul National University Medical Research, Seoul 03080, Republic of Korea"},{"name":"Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam 13620, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"789","DOI":"10.1007\/s10433-022-00744-9","article-title":"Social, health and economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic from a European perspective","volume":"19","author":"Kneip","year":"2022","journal-title":"Eur. 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