Therapeutic Agents Rounding Up the Immunopathology of COVID-19

Hong Peng Li; Xuan He; Liu Zhang; Chuan Xiang Li; Shi Qi Li; Qing Yun Li

doi:10.2147/TCRM.S313003

Therapeutic Agents Rounding Up the Immunopathology of COVID-19

Ther Clin Risk Manag. 2021 Jun 29:17:657-668. doi: 10.2147/TCRM.S313003. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Hong Peng Li^#^{1

2}, Xuan He^#³, Liu Zhang^#^{1

2}, Chuan Xiang Li^{1

2

4}, Shi Qi Li^{1

2}, Qing Yun Li^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200025, People's Republic of China.
² Institute of Respiratory Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200025, People's Republic of China.
³ Department of Pharmacy, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200025, People's Republic of China.
⁴ Department of Respiratory Medicine, Wuhan No.3 Hospital, Wuhan, 430000, People's Republic of China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

COVID-19 pandemic has caused more than 3 million deaths globally during the past year. The direct attack from SARS-CoV-2 and hyperactivated immune response contribute to the progress and deterioration of COVID-19. After the virus invades, the activation and release of cytokines/chemokines cause "cytokine storm", leading to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and multiple organs dysfunction syndrome (MODS). Eliminating virus and blocking cytokines are important checkpoints of COVID-19 therapy, and several agents targeting immunopathology, including interferons, thymosin, glucocorticoids and immunoglobulin, have shown therapeutic effects in severe patients with COVID-19. Herein, we reviewed the practice evidences and concluded that several agents rounding up the immunopathology of COVID-19 may be the alternative approaches under the scenario of the lacking of effective antiviral drugs.

Keywords: COVID-19; corticosteroids; cytokines; immunotherapy; inflammation; monoclonal antibodies.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (81770084 and 82070089), the Key Research Program of Shanghai Science and Technology Commission (grant number 18140903600), the National Key Technology Research and Development Program of China (2018YFC1311900), and Shanghai Key Laboratory of Emergency Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Respiratory Infectious Diseases (20dz2261100).