Mefloquine reduces the viral load and viral-induced enhancement of IL-6 and TNF-α in SARS-CoV-2-infected monocytes. Primary human monocytes isolated from health donors were infected with SARS-CoV-2 at an MOI of 0.01 for 1 h at 37 °C. Inoculum was removed and cells were treated with the indicated concentrations of mefloquine (MQ), chloroquine (CQ), or remdesivir (RDV). Virus replication (A) and LDH (B), IL-6 (C,D), or TNF-α (E,F) levels were assessed in the culture supernatants at 24 h post-infection. The data represent the means ± SEM of monocytes from at least 5 healthy donors. Ns: not significant, * p < 0.05, #
p < 0.05 and ** p < 0.01.