ABSTRACT

Amidst the global impact of COVID-19, there's an urgent demand for safe and efficient treatments. Currently, there's no specific therapeutic drug approved for its treatment, prompting the exploration of repurposed medications. Nonetheless, these drugs come with their own set of specific adverse effects. The aim of This study is to delve into the adverse effects of a range of drugs, such as Hydroxychloroquine, Chloroquine, Ivermectin, Lopinavir and Ritonavir, Azithromycin, Zinc, and Selenium, along with various drug combinations, on immune cell parameters in a cohort of sixty rats. The rats were divided into control and nine test groups, each treated with these drugs and three other groups treated with various drug Combinations. "The immune cell characteristics were assessed using the automated three PARTS ERMA Hematology auto analyzer PCE-210N. The data collected underwent analysis using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software. The findings revealed that the total counts of white blood cells in animals administered drug 9(8.73±1.14) "Showed a marked increase compared to Chloroquine (5.38±0.68), Hydroxychloroquine (5.38±0.68), Ivermectin (4.26±0.60), Lopinavir-ritonavir (5.17±0.81), Azithromycin (5.58±1.01), zinc-selenium (5.75±0.73), groups 7 (6.57±0.56), 8 (4.88±1.14), and CON (3.40±1.00). However, there were no statistically significant changes observed in the differential white blood cell counts (LYM%, and GRAN%) in animals treated with the same drugs as mentioned above compared to the control group. In conclusion, this study emphasizes the differing impacts of COVID-19 drug treatments on white blood cell count. Drug 9 (comprising combined drugs) notably increased total white blood cell count, suggesting that its effect may be primarily on total white blood cell count without selectively targeting specific subtypes. Therefore, further investigation is required to understand the mechanisms driving these changes and to assess the clinical significance of altered white blood cell count in COVID-19 patients receiving combination therapies.