COVID-19: Could Irisin Become the Handyman Myokine of the 21st Century?

The ongoing Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in China has become theworld's leading health headline and is causing major panic and public concerns. After emerging in theCity of Wuhan, China, COVID-19 has spread to several countries becoming a worldwide pandemia.Among the studies on COVID-19, it has been demonstrated that novel coronavirus pneumonia is closelyassociated with inflammatory storms. Controlling the inflammatory response may be as important astargeting the virus. Irisin is a muscle-contraction-induced immunomodulatory myokine related to physicalactivity. Irisin drives the “browning” of white adipocytes, so enhancing metabolic uncoupling andhence caloric expenditure. Irisin has been clearly shown to be a handyman molecule by exerting beneficialeffects on adipose tissues, pancreas, and bone through “cross-talk” between skeletal muscleadipocyte,skeletal muscle-pancreas, and skeletal muscle-bone, respectively. Irisin has been proposed asa promising strategy for early diagnosis and treatment of various types of cancers, neurological diseasesand inflammatory conditions. Irisin has been demonstrated to suppress the immune response, too. Theimportance of irisin is demonstrated by the increase in the number of scientific papers and patents inrecent years. The identification of irisin receptor should greatly facilitate the understanding of irisin’sfunction in exercise and human health. This review examines the structure and recent advances in activitiesof irisin, suggesting it for further studies on the prevention and cure of COVID-19. Nowadays, studieson irisin plasma levels and physical activity may be useful tools to further investigate the preventionof COVID-19. Irisin may be suggested as a potential novel intervention for COVID-19 by mitigatinginflammatory storms, suppressing the immune response and simultaneously alleviating neurological disorderssuch as depression and anxiety.