Rationale for combined therapies in severe-to-critical COVID-19 patients

Front Immunol. 2023 Sep 11:14:1232472. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1232472. eCollection 2023.

Abstract

An unprecedented global social and economic impact as well as a significant number of fatalities have been brought on by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), produced by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Acute SARS-CoV-2 infection can, in certain situations, cause immunological abnormalities, leading to an anomalous innate and adaptive immune response. While most patients only experience mild symptoms and recover without the need for mechanical ventilation, a substantial percentage of those who are affected develop severe respiratory illness, which can be fatal. The absence of effective therapies when disease progresses to a very severe condition coupled with the incomplete understanding of COVID-19's pathogenesis triggers the need to develop innovative therapeutic approaches for patients at high risk of mortality. As a result, we investigate the potential contribution of promising combinatorial cell therapy to prevent death in critical patients.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; advanced therapies; cytokine storm; immunomodulation; mesenchymal stromal cells.

Publication types

  • Review

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the financial support to BS from: Institute of Health Carlos III (Co-funded by Fondos FEDER), Project ICI21/00016 and Agencia Valenciana de Innovacion Projects AVI-GVA COVID-19-68 and GVA-COVI19/2021/047 and Project JDRF 2-SRA-2019-837. BS strongly appreciates the support of his family and friends. The authors declare that this study received funding from BS's family funds. The funder was not involved in the study design, collection, analysis, interpretation of data, the writing of this article, or the decision to submit it for publication.