Ivermectin: An Effective Remedy Against Various Diseases: A Literature Review

Introduction: Ivermectin is a member of avermectins family which was discovered in 1967 in Japan. The contribution of this drug to animal and human health was so prominent that the researchers who found the drug were awarded a Noble prize in 2015. With the advent of COVID-19,lot of interest has shifted more towards ivermectin usage in treating the COVID-19 alone or in combination with other medicines as synergism. Since its introduction, ivermectin has helped to control many parasitic diseases of animals and humans. For many years after its discovery, ivermectin was considered to be only a parasitic agent, but as scientists continue to evaluate this drug, they discover more healing aspects. Materials and Methods: For this review, we searched keywords from international databases including PubMed, Google Scholar, Science Direct and Scopus. The keywords were ivermectin, anticancer, anti-inflammation, antibacterial, antivirus, antiparasitic, and mechanism of action. Results: Several studies have shown that ivermectin has a very powerful antiparasitic, antibacterial, and antiviral activity and it can also be used as an anticancer and anti-inflammatory agent. Conclusion: The collected data showed that ivermectin can be used to control and prevent many pathogenic agents and it can also be repurposed for the treatment of COVID-19.