Merits and culprits of immunotherapies for neurological diseases in times of COVID-19

EBioMedicine. 2020 Jun:56:102822. doi: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2020.102822. Epub 2020 Jun 11.

Abstract

Immunosuppression and immunomodulation are valuable therapeutic approaches for managing neuroimmunological diseases. In times of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, clinicians must deal with the question of whether immunotherapy should currently be initiated or discontinued in neurological patients. Uncertainty exists especially because different national medical associations publish different recommendations on the extent to which immunotherapies must be continued, monitored, or possibly switched during the current pandemic. Based on the most recently available data both about the novel coronavirus and the approved immunotherapies for neurological diseases, we provide an updated overview that includes current treatment strategies and the associated COVID-19 risk, but also the potential of immunotherapies to treat COVID-19.

Keywords: COVID-19; Disease modifying therapies; Immunotherapies; Infections risk; Multiple sclerosis.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Antibodies, Monoclonal / therapeutic use
  • Betacoronavirus / isolation & purification
  • Betacoronavirus / physiology
  • COVID-19
  • Complement System Proteins / metabolism
  • Coronavirus Infections / complications
  • Coronavirus Infections / pathology*
  • Coronavirus Infections / virology
  • Humans
  • Immunity, Active
  • Immunosuppressive Agents / therapeutic use
  • Immunotherapy*
  • Nervous System Diseases / complications
  • Nervous System Diseases / therapy*
  • Pandemics
  • Pneumonia, Viral / complications
  • Pneumonia, Viral / pathology*
  • Pneumonia, Viral / virology
  • SARS-CoV-2
  • Vaccination

Substances

  • Antibodies, Monoclonal
  • Immunosuppressive Agents
  • Complement System Proteins