Open AccessImmunomodulation as a Potent COVID-19 Pharmacotherapy: Past, Present and Future
Author(s) -
Decsa Medika Hertanto,
Bayu Satria Wiratama,
Henry Sutanto,
Citrawati Dyah Kencono Wungu
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of inflammation research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.656
H-Index - 33
ISSN - 1178-7031
DOI - 10.2147/jir.s322831
Subject(s) - repurposing , covid-19 , pharmacotherapy , immune system , pandemic , coronavirus , medicine , disease , drug repositioning , drug development , immunology , immune dysregulation , clinical trial , immune modulation , intensive care medicine , drug , virology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , biology , pharmacology , outbreak , ecology
In the first year of its appearance, the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has affected more than 150 million individuals and killed 3 million people worldwide. The pandemic has also triggered numerous global initiatives to tackle the newly emerging disease, including the development of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines and the attempt to discover potential pharmacological therapies. Nonetheless, despite the success of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine development, COVID-19 therapy remains challenging. Several repurposed drugs that were documented to be useful in small clinical trials have been shown to be ineffective in larger studies. Additionally, the pathophysiology of SARS-CoV-2 infection displayed the predominance of hyperinflammation and immune dysregulation in inducing multiorgan damage. Therefore, the potential benefits of both immune modulation and suppression in COVID-19 have been extensively discussed. Here, we reviewed the roles of immunomodulation as potential COVID-19 pharmacological modalities based on the existing data and proposed several new immunologic targets to be tested in the foreseeable future.