VOOZH about

URL: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32474885/

⇱ Cytokine storm in COVID-19: pathogenesis and overview of anti-inflammatory agents used in treatment - PubMed


Clipboard, Search History, and several other advanced features are temporarily unavailable.
Skip to main page content
👁 Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

👁 Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation

Add to Collections

Add to My Bibliography

Your saved search

Create a file for external citation management software

Your RSS Feed

Abstract

COVID-19 infection has a heterogenous disease course; it may be asymptomatic or causes only mild symptoms in the majority of the cases, while immunologic complications such as macrophage activation syndrome also known as secondary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, resulting in cytokine storm syndrome and acute respiratory distress syndrome, may also occur in some patients. According to current literature, impairment of SARS-CoV-2 clearance due to genetic and viral features, lower levels of interferons, increased neutrophil extracellular traps, and increased pyroptosis and probable other unknown mechanisms create a background for severe disease course complicated by macrophage activation syndrome and cytokine storm. Various genetic mutations may also constitute a risk factor for severe disease course and occurrence of cytokine storm in COVID-19. Once, immunologic complications like cytokine storm occur, anti-viral treatment alone is not enough and should be combined with appropriate anti-inflammatory treatment. Anti-rheumatic drugs, which are tried for managing immunologic complications of COVID-19 infection, will also be discussed including chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, JAK inhibitors, IL-6 inhibitors, IL-1 inhibitors, anti-TNF-α agents, corticosteroids, intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), and colchicine. Early recognition and appropriate treatment of immunologic complications will decrease the morbidity and mortality in COVID-19 infection, which requires the collaboration of infectious disease, lung, and intensive care unit specialists with other experts such as immunologists, rheumatologists, and hematologists.

Keywords: COVID-19; Cytokine storm syndrome; Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis; Macrophage activation syndrome.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

👁 Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Generation of inflammasome and IL-1 activation pathway

References

    1. Paules CI, Marston HD, Fauci AS. Coronavirus infections—more than just the common cold. JAMA. 2020;323(8):707–708. doi: 10.1001/jama.2020.0757. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Huang C, Wang Y, Li X, Ren L, Zhao J, Hu Y, Zhang L, Fan G, Xu J, Gu X. Clinical features of patients infected with 2019 novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China. Lancet. 2020;395(10223):497–506. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30183-5. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Crayne CB, Albeituni S, Nichols KE, Cron RQ. The immunology of macrophage activation syndrome. Front Immunol. 2019;10:119. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2019.00119. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ding Y, He L, Zhang Q, Huang Z, Che X, Hou J, Wang H, Shen H, Qiu L, Li Z etal (2004) Organ distribution of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV) in SARS patients: implications for pathogenesis and virus transmission pathways. J Pathol; 203:622–630. 10.1002/path.1560 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Sarzi-Puttini P, Giorgi V, Sirotti S, Marotto D, Ardizzone S, Rizzardini G, Antinori S, Galli M. COVID-19, cytokines and immunosuppression: what can we learn from severe acute respiratory syndrome? Clin Exp Rheumatol. 2020;38(2):337–342. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources

Cite

NCBI Literature Resources

MeSH PMC Bookshelf Disclaimer

The PubMed wordmark and PubMed logo are registered trademarks of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Unauthorized use of these marks is strictly prohibited.