The uricosuric agent probenecid, traditionally used to treat gout and gouty arthritis, may also effectively reduce symptoms in patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 infections, according to a new study published by Martin et al in Viruses. In a phase II trial, researchers randomly assigned 75 patients 1:1:1 to receive either 500 mg of probenecid, 1,000 mg of probenecid, or placebo once every 12 hours for 5 days. The primary endpoints were time to viral clearance and the proportion of patients who had no symptoms after 5 days of treatment. The researchers found that the patients who received 1,000 mg and 500 mg of probenecid experienced shorter times to viral clearance (7 and 9 days, respectively) compared with those who received placebo (11 days). After a follow-up of 10 days, they discovered that 68% of the patients in the 1,000-mg probenecid group achieved symptom resolution vs 56% of those in the 500-mg probenecid group and 20% of those in the placebo group. The researchers also reported no statistically significant differences in the rate of adverse events between all groups; no patients in any group were hospitalized or died. The researchers concluded that probenecid demonstrated notable improvements in both virus clearance and symptom reduction in a population of COVID-19–infected patients.