Abstract:

The emerging and re-emerging of viral infections represent serious problems with many of them affecting the nervous system; many of these viral infections still lacks an effective vaccine or treatment. To overcome viral infections three major approaches are being followed which are developing effective vaccines, de novo antiviral drug discovery and drugs repurposing to be used for viral infections. . Regarding drug repurposing approach, many drugs from different classes were documented as candidates for repurposing for antiviral use, moreover drugs that showed antiviral activity while being already used for nervous system purposes present promising candidates for repurposing, having an advantage of being able to pass through the blood-brain barrier and easily reaching the nervous system. This narrative review article was written as a part in the effort to overcome viral infections, the review summaries the researches that focused on the antiviral ac- tivity of drugs originally approved for their effect on the nervous system. And in order to help other researchers to relate between the effect of the drugs on mem- bers within thhe same family and the effect on viruses of different families, the findings were arranged in sections based on the classification of viral families to which viruses used in the studies documented belong.

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