Abstract: Ivermectin is associated with increase in SPO2 in hypoxemic SARS-Cov-2 patients: pharmacodynamic profile and correlates. olufemi Emmanuel Babalola (  bablo57@gmail.com ) Bingham University, New Karu https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7737-3831 Adesuyi A. Ajayi Baylor College, Texas https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2036-7929 Thairu Yunusa University of Abuja https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1941-8151 Yahaya Ndanusa Al Ummah Foundation, Abuja John O. Ogedengbe University of Abuja https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1559-1750 Omede Ogu Federal Ministry of Health, Abuja https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6695-1405 Research Article Keywords: Ivermectin, arterial oxygen saturation, covid-19, viral load Posted Date: April 27th, 2022 DOI: https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-1576399/v1 License:   This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Read Full License Page 1/20 Abstract Background and Objectives: Hypoxemic respiratory failure is a common mode of demise in Covid 19 disease. We aimed to describe the time course of SPO2 changes in Covid 19 patients treated with and without ivermectin. Methods: This was a parallel group, prospective comparative study of propensity matched Covid 19 patients (Cycle threshold Ct < 25, SPO2 < 94%). 21 of the patients received Ivermectin (IVM) inclusive regime at 12 mg daily for 5 days, while 26 others received Non-ivermectin inclusive regime ( NIVM). Results: the IVM group demonstrated earlier and greater increase in SPO2 (p=0.000) which paralleled greater and faster virological clearance (p = 0.000) on Repeat measures Analysis of Variance RMANOVA. There was a significant correlation between absolute SPO2 and absolute Ct on day 5 (r = 0.77 ) and day 7 (r = 0.77) both p = 0.000. Incremental SPO2 also correlated with incremental Ct. by day 5 ( r = 0.397, p = 0.003) and day 7 ( r = 0.315 , p = 0.0002) relative to baseline. Increase in platelet count correlated with increased SPO2 (r = 0.252, p = 0.029) on IVM, but negatively with NIVM (r = - 0.28, p = 0 .17). Inflammatory markers such as ESR, CRP or D- dimer showed no significant correlation with SPO2. Increase in SPO2 on IVM was magnified in males. Conclusion: IVM regime appears to be associated with faster and greater increase in SPO2 paralleling faster viral clearance in Covid 19 patients.